REGIONAL INDIC ATIVE STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PL AN The rates of return on deposits placed by the poor at • 1 7 Inefficient bureaucracies which do not promote the formal financial institutions tend to be relatively low. At interests of the poor. semi-formal or microfinance institutions the rates of SADC Member States are addressing their poverty return are also low, if not lower. problems either through Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers Over the past two decades, in several countries the (PRSPs) or through other initiatives. Lesotho, Malawi, poor have been particularly adversely affected by the Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia have each prepared a effects of structural adjustment measures such as: PRSP (Swaziland is preparing one now) in broad • Removal of agricultural input subsidies which has consultation with stakeholders who will participate in resulted in an increase in the cost of production; monitoring poverty reduction and growth strategies. While Privatisation of state marketing corporations which PRSPs are not tailor-made, they all support policies that aim has led to the closure of some of the markets that at helping the poor so that they can benefit from growth by serve the poor; expanding their opportunities, with focus on safety nets, • Retrenchments which have led to unemployment; pro-poor economic growth emphasizing productive sectors • Currency devaluations which have led to a marked and employment creation, building human, physical and increase in domestic prices of inputs and final other capital assets of and for the poor, good governance products; and a conducive macroeconomic environment. • • Liberalisation of interest rate determination which has the poor borrow money from financial institutions; 2.4.3 Selected health, education and labour Indicators and A further disaggregation and deeper examination of the led to a marked increase in the interest rates at which • Decontrol of maximum product prices, which has led social and human development indicators reveals wide to a sharp increase in prices. variations and gaps in terms of levels of human The poor are also vulnerable to economic shocks and capabilities among Member States. instability arising from other factors; droughts, floods and i) Infant and Maternal Mortality Rates other natural disasters; illness and violence; and the high The health status of the region's population is rate of crime in the region, which makes life and property characterised by large discrepancies among Member insecure and discourages economic activity. States on basic indicators such as infant, child and Socially, the poor are subject to norms, values and maternal mortality rates. Available statistics from the customary practices that disadvantage women and other SADC Health Sector Policy Document show that the groups economically, socially and politically or lead to average Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) for the SADC region is their exclusion and powerlessness. These norms and 80 per 1,000 live births. It ranges from 9 in the Seychelles values include: to 166 in Angola. Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia also • have IMRs above 100. Socio-economic stratifications where women are not valued as much as men; • • Inequitable and oppressive Although the SADC region has a lower IMR (80) than social relations concerning gender; and other regions of the world such as North America (6), EU Large families, which overburden women. (30) and ASEAN (45). The levels of IMR have serious Politically, the poor are the victims of bad governance implications for the survival, well-being and development reflected in: • • • the rest of the African continent (105), it lags far behind Unequal distribution of political power which has left of children in the region. With regard to maternal mortality rate, the level for the the poor voiceless and powerless; SADC region at 486 deaths per 100,000 live births Corruption which wastes and diverts resources from compares favourably with that for the African continent at activities that promote the interests of the poor; 832. However, the SADC level in general is still far above Lack of transparency and accountability which has that of other regions of the world such as the EU (12), the same effects as corruption; and North America (43) and ASEAN (273).