Country Profile

Sources: World Bank (2011) - World Development Indicators, UN Statistics Division (2010) -Millenium Development Goals Database, UN Population Division (2008) - World Population Prospects, WHO (2008) - Global Health Observatory Data

Swaziland is a small country, measuring just 200 by 130 km. It borders South Africa and Mozambique. The population is around 1.2 million. Both Siswati and English are official languages of the country and are taught in schools. Siswati (also known as Swati or Swazi) is spoken by about 2.5 million people as it is also spoken in the Eastern Provinces of South Africa. It is thought that in Swaziland there are also about 76000 Zulu speakers and 19000 Tsonga speakers.

Swaziland is a country with many needs. Its economic growth and social integrity is highly endangered by its HIV epidemic. Current infection rates are 26%. The UN Development Agency wrote that if the HIV epidemic continues unabated the longer term existence of Swaziland as a country will be seriously threatened.

With information such as this we decided that Swaziland should be a target country in 2011. However we had no contact with Swazi Nationals or partner organisations. Thus we started from scratch, attempting to establish links with individuals and organisations in the UK and Swaziland. Numerous translation agencies were contacted and requests for help were posted on translation websites. The UK Borders Agency was approached and assisted us by emailing their pool of interpreters. Unfortunately no Siswati speakers came forward from these appeals although we did gain a pool of other language speakers to join our volunteer list.

Personal contacts were then approached through friends of friends, other charities, Facebook, Universities, Linked In, etc. The most successful lead came from Jim Watson of the Swazi Society who put us in touch with many people in the UK and Swaziland. Partner organisations are now being explored.