financial ties with South Africa. Approximately, 70% of Swaziland’s 1.11 million people live in the rural areas, with their income depending mainly of subsistence agriculture. The country’s economy is mainly driven by its membership of the South African Customs Union (SACU) and the Common Monetary Area (CMA). Despite the efforts being done b the government, the Swazi economy has been stagnated for almost two decades in a low-growth trap, with exogenous shocks reinforcing existing structural constraints to growth. Despite being categorized as a middle-income country, the nation battles with severe social challenges – poverty and inequality are pervasive and this is aggravated by the high levels of HIV/AIDS.
Recently a sharp decline in SACU revenues in 2011 only demonstrated Swaziland’s economic vulnerabilities. A determinant factor that can aid in the progress of the country is to lay the foundations for economic competitiveness and diversifying the sources of revenue.
Swaziland’s business environment and competitiveness is small and weak and faces a series of challenges. Originally, the country’s private sector relied heavily on Foreign Direct Investment as the driver of growth and thus neglected almost completed any entrepreneurship efforts. Moreover, a large public sector leaves little space for the domestic private sector, which is poorly organized and is not a priority in Government decision making. In general, the Swaziland’s economy is not productive enough and does not generate enough income sources to alleviate current financial burdens with national and international financial institution. Thus, the resources that can be destined towards AIDS and poverty projects is very limited.
2.2. HIV and AIDS situation in Swaziland
The Southern Africa sub-region, in particular, experiences the most severe HIV epidemics in the world. Swaziland, is among the nine countries in Africa, that have adult HIV prevalence rates over 10%. In fact, Swaziland has the highest HIV prevalence rate in the world at 26%, one in four adults are living with HIV. According to the latest figures, life expectancy is just
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population. More than a third of the population are under 14 years old and only approximately 11% are over 65 years old. In other words, the highest prevalence rate are amongst the most productive working age ranges.Despite the alarming indicators, the country is one of five sub-Saharan African countries that have reached the goal of getting more than 80% people on antiretroviral treatment (ART).
This government led campaign was first launched nationwide n 2003 and by 2012, Swaziland was among the few low-and middle-income countries which have achieved universal access to treatment, in other words, 80% of the country’s population who need HIV treatment receive it. Considering Swaziland’s fragile economy, the government has made efforts to supply the drugs necessary for the treatment funding 100% of the drugs domestically.
Additionally, the government has made many efforts towards introducing a number of initiatives for HIV prevention, such as condom distribution and educational campaigns aimed at changing behaviors in the society. Despite the notable improvements that have been made in making treatment more accessible, the gains have been felt far more by adults living with HIV, access to treatment for children continues to be extremely inadequate, with only 54 percent of children eligible for treatment receiving it in 2012.
Funding for HIV response provides mainly from international sources. In 2010, 60% of the funding for these projects was done by international entities while 40% was covered domestically. This high level of internationally sourced funding suggests Swaziland’s HIV response is currently unsustainable and reliant on continued international investment in the global HIV response. Most of the funds are disbursed by the Global Fund and PEPFAR; and was hit particularly hard because of the cancellation in November 2011 of Round 11 Global Fund funding.
It is important to note that although progress has been made with regards to treatment and Prevention of Mother-to-Child treatment (PMTCT); issues such as poverty, gender inequality and risky cultural practices continue to be factors that contribute to a high risk of HIV
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infection. Moreover, the country urgently needs to create more effective prevention initiatives and center efforts on improving access to HIV testing facilities.
2.3. Poverty situation in Swaziland
The greatest resources a nation has is its people. However, when the vast majority of the population are deprived of the basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education, they are set at a disadvantage and are deprived from the basic capacity to participate effectively in society.
Social and economic indicators confirm the existing fundamental inequalities that prevail within the Swazi society such as access to income and assets, and the existence of significant poverty and deprivation. Many international organizations recognize that the county has an urgent need to catalyze a new pattern of pro-poor development where the poor participate and share fully the benefits of growth, human development and social protection.
Poverty levels in Swaziland are partly explained by the pattern of wealth and income inequalities that has existed throughout the years. Only a small share of the population has gathered most of the countries income showing that 10% of the population controls over 40%
of the total national income while 14% of the poorest control a mere 14% of the total income.
Approximately 84% of the population lives in rural areas, where the depths and severity of poverty are the highest. Moreover, 43% of the rural population fall below the national upper poverty line and 40% of the urban population are poor. The vast majority of the poor population is concentrated in rural areas. Within rural areas, the worst poverty levels (all indices) are found in rural Shiselweni region. In rural Shiselweni, more than half the population live in poverty.
As mentioned before, most of the population does not have access to assets which limits their opportunities for a better living. In fact, the only actual available asset poor households possess is the quantity and quality of their labor power. The greater the imbalance of dependents to labor-force participants, the greater the chance of the household being in poverty. Yet adequate quantity of labor-power alone is not sufficient to prevent the household from being poor. There needs to be sufficient labor market demand and opportunities that can
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ensue a permanent source of income into a household. For the age group 15-24 years (the age range where one-third of the population falls into), the problem is acutely worse, with national unemployment levels above 40 percent. Bringing labor opportunities to the population plays a pivotal role in reducing poverty levels. Data shows that a unit reduction in inequality would have as great an impact in reducing poverty as a unit of inequitable growth.
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Markets for ethical goods and services originating from Africa have remained resilient throughout the economic downturn. According to Rob Harrison, a Director at Ethical Consumer Research Association, “The annual Ethical Consumer Markets Reports have shown significant growth each year since the onset of the recession. This clearly demonstrates that the trend towards ethical buying is not a luxury which consumers choose to drop when the going gets tough, but an important long-term change in the way people are making buying decisions.”
3.2. Situation Analysis
Faces of Swaziland is a two-fold project targeted to create labor and raise funds for the fight against AIDS and poverty. With the collaboration of the Kingdom of Swaziland, an art exhibition will be put together and will showcase (as its central theme) faces of the people of Swaziland and the stories behind these faces. The exhibition has two goals, the first is to collect funds to initiate the enterprise and second, to create awareness and buzz through the paintings showcased in the exhibition.
The exhibition will serve as the platform to attract key national and international actors, NGO’s, private enterprises, non-profit organizations and agencies that want to join forces with the Kingdom of Swaziland in the search for solutions to current economic and social issues. The ultimate goal of the exhibition is to create an agency from a Bottom-Up Perspective where the key methodology of operation of the institution will incorporate direct feedback from the poor. In this sense, key business and developmental strategies will be implemented from a stand point that arises directly from the necessities of the people.
Additionally, rooted from the paintings showcased in the exhibition and under the supervision of the newly created agency, a diverse number of products will be developed through workshops and training programs. These products will be produced and elaborated by women and men living in rural areas in Swaziland thus bringing labor opportunities and new sources of income into areas where unemployment rate are the highest.