Despite the fact that poverty reduction and gender equality have been high on the political agenda in Mozambique for decades, standard indicators such as  GDP per capita, the HDI and the GDI all reveal that Mozambique is a poor country in overall as well as in gender equality terms. Important progress for women has been made in areas such as political representation, education and health, but the position of women shows large variations between different regions in the country. This paper will outline some of the main policies for economic development and gender equality in Mozambique the past decades and key implications for men and women in the country, as a contribution to the World Development Report 2012 on gender equality and development.