Mozambique: Around 75% of Women in Cabo Delgado Are Illiterate

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has estimated that around 75% of women cannot read or write in Cabo Delgado, a province in northern Mozambique that has faced armed attacks since 2017. The general illiteracy rate among the population of Cabo Delgado is 61% and, among women alone, it is estimated that around 75% cannot read or write, according to a note from UNHCR that Lusa had access to today.

The agency said that with the high illiteracy rate in that province, adult education programs are a "promise on the horizon."

"Thanks to the Instant School Network (INS) program, more women are joining classes in Pemba, proving that it is never too late to learn," the document says.

The INS programme, launched in 2021 by UNHCR and the Vodafone Foundation, aims to provide quality digital education to asylum seekers, refugees and local students, having benefited almost 9,000 students in grades 7 and 12, 25,000 members of their families and more than 200 teachers in Nampula province alone.

The most recent data from the Mozambican government indicate that almost 40% of the country's population is illiterate, with the illiteracy rate being 49.4% among women and 27.2% among men.

Since October 2017, gas-rich Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion with attacks claimed by movements associated with the extremist group Islamic State and women are among those most affected by the conflicts that have plunged the province into an unprecedented humanitarian and security crisis, according to some humanitarian organizations.

The last major attack in that northern province of the country occurred on May 10 and 11, 2024, in the district headquarters of Macomia, with around a hundred rebels looting the town, causing several deaths and heavy fighting with the Mozambican Defense and Security Forces and Rwandan military, who provide support to the FDS in the region.