Swaziland is currently facing a high unemployment rate. Up to 40% of youth aged 15-39 are unemployed and in some age brackets the statistics are above 53%. The rate at which industry absorbs qualified young people is very low in proportion to the numbers produced by tertiary institutions annually. Young graduates with qualifications ranging from diplomas, bachelors, honors degrees and above find getting employed difficult because the job market has no room for them in the current economy.…

On May 28, 2013, for the first time in the history of Swaziland, Cervical Cancer Screening Services were launched in the rural community of Ngculwini, just outside the town of Manzini. The launch saw 30+ women screened for cervical cancer. It is exciting times indeed for the women of Swaziland, given that it has the highest HIV prevalence (26%), coupled with very high poverty levels (63%). Below is a group photo of the team from Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, Swaziland Breast…

The short game: HIV and food security

Community development in Sub-Sahara Africa has been clouded by the emergency response mentality, which was exhibited in the knee jerk reaction of many countries in the initial response to the HIV pandemic. This has resulted in governments and community leaders concentrating all their efforts on combating the disease’s impact rather than designing strategic interventions that will close the tap of new infections.

Efforts to combat the…

On paper, our pursuit of economic growth, self-reliance, and social justice in Swaziland is very much in line with the Busan principles. In practice, there is another story.

In 1988, the Swazi government embarked on a comprehensive planning system designed to meet emerging and serious challenges such as poverty and economic instability. Now complete, the Swaziland National Development Strategy (NDS) articulates the country’s…

Without sounding ungrateful one wonders if aid agencies or development partners are as effective in helping Third World countries in their course towards sustainable development. In Swaziland it began as an emergency response where food aid is concerned, but it later became an annual event. Some communities have become perpetual beneficiaries of food aid despite having received good rains, farm inputs, etc. They simply will not apply any effort towards producing their own food. This has…

Practice and experience has taught me that the best approach to development is the human rights based approach that places communities at the centre of the development agenda. A top down government initiated program has a tendency of saving face and pushing for programs that will make the government of the day look good. Communities are the right people to drive the agenda of development in the sense that they can be pioneers and sustainers of the same development. In my years as a…