Cape Verde

Cape Verde became independent upon the unilateral declaration of independence for Guinea-Bissau on September 24, 1973, by the African Party for the Independence and Union of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) on July 5, 1975. In terms of human development, Cape Verde—classified “medium development” on the Human Development Index (HDI) 2007 Report—towers above its fellow west African countries such as Nigeria, which has comparatively massive natural resources. Cape Verde has relatively functional laws and policies that protect the interests of women when compared with other countries in Africa. The female literacy rate is quite encouraging; infant and maternal mortality have remained one of the lowest on the continent. Accessibility to health care has been quite encouraging, and hunger [Page 162]seems a rare phenomenon in the country of below half a million inhabitants (426,998 according to the 2008 headcount).

Although the human condition in Cape Verde has historically been unenviable, especially during Portuguese colonialism (when an estimated 55,000 citizens died of large-scale hunger and health-related problems between 1940–48), contemporary Cape Verde has been able to achieve remarkable progress in enhancing the standard of living of the entire citizenry, mothers included. Various birth control measures are indeed very potent in the country. Female reproductive education has not only been popular, but quite functional in both rural and urban areas. Accessibility to formal education across gender categories is among the highest in Africa, and compulsory for ages 6–14. This has enhanced mothers' capacity in taking up cogent, socioeconomic opportunities. Also, the state does make compelling incentives available in the form of social services to mothers and children. The sprawling incidences of early marriage and common childhood diseases prevalent among other larger, West African countries are quite rare in Cape Verde, with comparatively limited natural resources.

The rate of divorce on the island is quite lower when juxtaposed with the rest of the continent. Even when it occurs, divorce laws are designed to distribute the responsibilities of childrens' upbringing between mothers and fathers. Roman Catholicism is the most prominent religion in the country, which tends to influence the mode of relation within the family setting. That is, women are still expected to be submissive to their husbands; however, the nature of the societal structure is not designed to allow the men to hide under such submissiveness to manipulate women. Among such mothers were Simoa Borges, the adopted mother of Juvenal Cabral (father of the founder of the PAIGC, Amilar Cabral, and the country's first president, Luis Cabral); and Iva Cabral.