SGBV violates an individual’s rights continues to be low. Food scarcity may inherently lead to tensions within the household, thus increasing the likelihood of domestic violence. Women can also suffer reprisal attacks for their participation in food aid assistance activities by their partners in some communities. This situation subjects the powerless victims, the majority being adolescent girls and women, to emotional trauma, physical injury, HIV and STI transmission, and unwanted pregnancies. For adolescent girls, such experiences often lead them to drop out of school, curtailing their opportunities in life. Awareness about sexual exploitation and gender-based violence as violation of an individual’s rights continues to be low across the region. There are also reports that pregnant women no longer present to give birth at health facilities. This may have critical consequences since lifesaving services to prevent maternal and neonatal deaths and mother-to-child HIV transmission. Women play a key role in household livelihoods, and their knowledge and leadership needs to be incorporated into response planning and implementation. The specific needs of women and girls are often excluded from rapid assessments, and are often not addressed in responses and reliable sex-disaggregated data is lacking for sectoral interventions. ECONOMIC SITUATION The majority of Southern African countries face a negative economic outlook, mainly due to falling commodity prices and a weakening in African currencies, including the South Africa Rand and Zambian Kwacha, which hit record lows in December 2015. Many countries in the region derive the majority of their export earnings from commodities such as oil and metals. Angola, which relies on oil to generate more than 90 per cent of its export earnings and 70 per cent of its government revenue, has been hard hit by the falling oil prices (last year, it fell by two-thirds), leading to inflation, devaluation and rationing. In Zambia, where copper production accounts for about 75 per cent of export revenue, El Niño is compounding the fall in commodity prices, as low water levels in the hydroelectric Kariba Dam reduced power output to both Zambia and Zimbabwe, affecting mining operations and economic development. Maize prices in 2016 have continued on an increasing trend from 2015 and are currently above five-year monthly average levels. As of January 2016 the price of maize in Malawi stands at 79.4 per cent above its three-year average level. The price of maize in January 2016 compared to fiveyear average levels across Southern Africa are as follows: Mozambique: 94.8 per cent; South Africa: 65.8 per cent; Swaziland: 54.5 per cent; Tanzania: 34.7 per cent; Zambia: 27.1 per cent; Lesotho: 24.8 per cent; and Zimbabwe: 19 per cent. Like many countries in Southern Africa region, South Africa — traditionally a maize exporter — will have to import maize, its staple grain, over the course of 2016. This will likely lead to additional food basket cost increases and will further complicate the food security situation of neighbouring countries that traditionally rely upon South Africa for food imports to cover deficits. In Lesotho and Zimbabwe (the latter using the US dollar as currency), the value of remittances, which are important income sources for poor households, is particularly negatively affected by the depreciating Rand, down 15 per cent. Inflation is also worsening due to rising food prices triggered by the drought. Available data provided by Member States in March 2016 and from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook database indicate that economic performance for 2015 presents a depressed scenario for the region with real GDP growing marginally. Inflation pressures are building on the back of both supply and demand factors. Fiscal deficits have deteriorated and public debt is rising. External positions of most of the Member States are deteriorating and external foreign exchange reserves are under pressure. Development funding will have to be redirected towards emergency relief efforts, which will affect economic growth. Tourism, an important source of revenue, can also be expected to decrease due to water scarcity and impact on wildlife (see section below). While external factors have largely contributed to the current poor performance of the region, internally, 21