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Salmina Merique co-ordinates Save the Children's work with orphans and vulnerable children in Mozambique. On a recent trip to London she told us about the issues facing children in Mozambique today. "There are so many children facing difficulties in Mozambique - in terms of food, going to school, birth registration. Many of them can't register for school because they don't have birth documents - and not being in school exposes children to risks of further exploitation like child labour - even trafficking. We don't know how many children have been trafficked because they aren't registered. The main issue for me is education. Children need to learn the skills they will need to fulfil their role as an adult in society. Everything depends on education. "In terms of mothers and HIV and AIDS, there are two things that we need to tackle. One is the situation of women in society and then there is HIV and AIDS itself. Women are more exposed to AIDS, partly because they don't have access to information, and many of them can't read. Also, some traditions and cultural practices make it difficult to negotiate safe sex for a lot of women. We're finding pregnancy and STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) in younger and younger girls. When they become mothers they don't have know how to care for a baby, or skills to deal with life, because they lost their own mother or they stoped studying early. That's why it's so important to concentrate on women and children. "Many children have been orphaned and taken in by their extended families. How close and supportive those families are depends on the situation they're facing. Sometimes we think they'll treat the orphans in a different way from their own children. According to research, each extended family can cope with one or two orphans, but more is too much. Last year we did a baseline study, and I didn't read any statements about children being badly treated because they've been orphaned and joined their extended family. If they're facing difficulties, it's because it's difficult for all the children. If the children who've been orphaned aren't attending school, none of the children are. "We have to develop safety nets so that children can grow up in a safe environment. Most policies were developed during the civil war that ended in 1992. We've now got the first generation of children who didn't experience the war. We have the possibility to introduce new things, to build new skills and a new way of thinking. But, we're facing a new kind of trauma. HIV and AIDS isn't the same as the war, but it destroys your capacity to think about and see the future. So we need to learn again how we're going to improve this situation. If children have lost their parents, who can fill that role and help the children to grow up? There are lots of things to do. "Women and children must be at the centre of all planning and development, otherwise there's no way we can change the situation. I was really pleased when we met with DFID that these two target groups were seen as crucial in all the documents. What Save the Children does is important because it puts children at the centre. There are a lot of issues affecting children in Mozambique that aren't being addressed in practice. I'd like to see a specific government department for children's issues, and specific policies for children. "We shouldn't isolate HIV and AIDS from the general issue of improving the situation of children and women. This is very important to how we're approaching the situation in Mozambique. When you look at all these problems together why children are exposed, why sometimes they're not protected, why we're not listening to children, why children are not included when we're addressing HIV and AIDS the situation for children isn't good. "The first thing we have to do as Mozambiquans is agree the status of children. Although the government has signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this hasn't reached rural areas. The government defines children as anyone under 18, but in rural areas, as soon as a girl looks like a woman, she's no longer a child. On paper, the government might say she's a child, but in the community she's treated as an adult. "One of the most important things I think Save the Children can do is work with families and communities to reinforce the process of child participation. It's important for the children themselves to perceive that they can speak and participate, while respecting adults according to tradition and culture. "It's not that children aren't respected, but communities don't think you're supposed to ask the children. We're bringing a new deal for children, and this takes time. The fathers, the grandmothers, the leaders learn how to deal with the children according to their experience. We need to give them time and say, 'Look, it's important to listen to children because they really have a point of view.' "It's so common to give children and women the same status. Some cultures say it's better to let the men talk, but we're saying, 'No, children can talk, they can say something.' "