Maputo, Mozambique (PANA) — Mozambican NGOs have said that the improvement in the country's macro-economic indicators since the end of the civil war in 1992 has not translated into improvements in the well- being of ordinary citizens.

They presented their views in a paper delivered at the World Bank's Consultative Group on Mozambique.

Positive macro-economic results, they said, "are still not reflected in the lives of the most vulnerable low income strata, the people in the more remote rural areas, and even in urban zones - particularly women, children, old people and the disabled."

They pointed out that the level of chronic malnutrition remains above 40 percent in some areas, with the nearest health post some 40 km or more.

"In the cities, mothers of poor families are obliged to leave young children without care so that they can earn their daily bread by selling

in the informal markets and on street corners," they added.

The NGOs denounced the "nefarious consequences" of the government's privatisation programme for depriving thousands of workers of their jobs. And those lucky enough to have jobs in privatised factories were often not paid their wages.

They called on the government and its international partners to design well-thought out policies to ensure that the benefits from macro- economic gains, and from the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries debt relief initiative, lead to "tangible improvements in the life of the poorest communities."