Mozambique

FACTS

Full Name: Republic of Mozambique 
Population: 33 million (World Bank, 2022) 
Population Growth (Yearly): 2.81% 
Capital: Maputo 
Area: 799,380 SQ KM (309,475 SQ Miles) 
Major Languages: Portuguese (Official), over 40 local languages including Tsonga, Makhuwa, Sena, Chichewa and Swahili 
Major Religions: Christianity, Islam, traditional faiths
 

United Purpose works in five provinces of Mozambique – Niassa, Cabo Delgado, Nampula Manica and Maputo.  Our head office is in Niassa’s Lichinga city, with support offices in Maputo and Chimoio.  

We have been working in Mozambique since 1996. We work with local government, civil society and community organizations, not only to provide better services to communities who need them but also to strengthen capacity of women and young people particularly to claim their rights to safe water, education, health care and food.

Social accountability and systems strengthening is a key focus of our work in Mozambique, with a view to improving citizens’ wellbeing and supporting the country’s efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It is widely acknowledged that social accountability enhances development outcomes and progress towards the achievement of human development, by strengthening links between governments and citizens.  
 
We take a Social Accountability Cycle approach to help ensure the most pressing needs are prioritized in Government plans and budgets. We also prioritize support for gender equality and inclusion as part of our response to the UN call for Leaving No-one Behind, and are working with communities and partners to improve behaviour and practices in families and communities that promote and support women and girls’ rights, particularly their right to education.   

We also work in water, sanitation and hygiene and climate change resilient agricultural production. 

MOZAMBIQUE PROJECTS

BOOSTING EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CITIZENS PARTICIPATION AND SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY IN DISTRICTS AND MUNICIPALITIES IN NIASSA

This project is part of the Support Program to Municipalities and District Governments, funded by the SDC through the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). It aims to strengthen the effective, responsible, efficient and inclusive provision of public services to more than 878,000 women, men and young people living in Mozambique’s Lichinga, Mandimba and Lago districts, as well as the municipalities of Lichinga, Mandimba and Metangula, in Niassa province.  
 
To do this, it will seek to achieve: 

• more inclusive and receptive local governance in the target districts and municipalities 

• better coverage and sustainability of public services and infrastructure 

• improved effective, responsible, efficient and inclusive provision of public services a 

• institutional framework influenced by local evidence and reality on the ground 

The project undertakes a social audit exercise, with social accountability monitoring committees (SAMComs) members analysing the previous year’s Government plans and reports, identifying items of public interest and assessing the impact on local development.

Project promotes a public hearing, providing a privileged space for accountability and interaction between Government representatives and citizens, where SAMComs present their social audit report to local government bodies and jointly identify follow up actions.  

SHE BELONGS IN SCHOOL

Funded by the GAC through Save the Children International, the five-year ‘She Belongs In School’ (SBIS) programme aims to enhance the empowerment and learning outcomes of adolescent girls (10-19) in the provinces of Nampula and Niassa in Mozambique. This will be achieved by working with more than 99,000 people – including girls and children, their families and communities, and school administrators, teachers, and education authorities – to tackle the underlying harmful social norms, practices, and behaviours that contribute to girls’ low rates of education access and achievement.  

 The programme’s primary target group is adolescent girls (aged 10-19), both in and out of the school system, who are at risk of not realising their right to education. Particular attention is paid to girls who face intersectional discrimination, including those with disabilities and girls living in remote, hard-to-reach areas. 

Through United Purpose, our sister organisation, we are one of the implementing partners and our activities cover 20 communities in Mecanhelas district, Niassa province.  

The project aims to achieve: 

• An increase in the promotion of and support for women and girls’ rights, particularly the right to education through improved behaviors and practices among families and communities (including religious leaders)

• Greater self-belief, decision-making power and leadership exercised by adolescent girls to pursue education 

• Safer and more supportive learning environments that build the skills and competencies of adolescent girls and are responsive to their specific needs 

GOTAS III : THE TRANSPARENT GOVERNANCE FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HEALTH III

The Transparent Governance for Water, Sanitation and Health programme (or GoTAS, drops in Portuguese, for short) is the third phase of a Government of Mozambique multisectoral programme that began in 2014. Co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, it aims to improve the health of 36,000 women and men living in rural areas in seven target districts of Niassa Province by taking action in the areas of governance, water supply, sanitation and health promotion. The districts are Chimbunila, Lago, Lichinga, Mandimba, Mecanhelas, Metarica and Sanga. 

The Government of Niassa Province is responsible for implementing GoTAS through the Provincial Secretariat, Provincial Directorate of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources (DPOPHRH), Provincial Directorate of Plan and Finance (DPEF) and the Governments of seven target districts. Local technical support is provided by a consortium of two non-governmental organisations, SNV and United Purpose. Local implementation partners and UCA, CCM and FoFEN. 

In the long term, the programme will contribute to improving the living and health conditions of women and men in the districts covered, specifically through access to safe drinking water and reducing the incidence of water-borne diseases.  

This project aims to achieve: 

• Women and men living in rural areas can express their needs and rights, and demand responsibility from local governments and the private sector to provide basic water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services; 

• Decentralised systems (the district government, the private sector, water and sanitation committees) provide more equitable, efficient and integrated health, including high-quality basic WASH services that meet the needs of the vulnerable and disadvantaged populations; 

• Improve sector approaches through local realities’ evidence, engage in national level dialogue and influence the institutionalization of program approaches through policy change, adoption and practice. 

DECENTRALISATION FOR DEVELOPMENT (D4D)

Decentralization for Development project is EU-funded through UNDP and is complementing and supporting the Government's decentralization efforts, initiated in Mozambique in 2018. Implementing partners are decentralised Governance Bodies (CEP and CSREP) in Cabo Delgado province and Ministry of State Administration and Public Service (MAEFP). 

IMPROVING FOOD SECURITY, NUTRITION, INCOME AND LIVELIHOODS FOR SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN MOZAMBIQUE

This is a regional food security project implemented in Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique, which focuses on improving access to high quality potato seed, training farmers’ associations in how to produce their own seed locally, and connecting farmers to markets. It is funded by DFAT through our long time partner Australian NGO Action on Poverty (AOP). 
 
In Mozambique, the project aims to: 

• Improve the food security and nutrition of 1,200 smallholder farmers (mainly women) 

• Increase farmer incomes by developing an equitable value chain 

• Enhance links between private, public and research sector 

• Advance access to locally produced improved seed (Irish potato and orange fleshed sweet potato)

The project focuses on women's capacity, power and ownership and place emphasis on strengthening coordination mechanisms between the key development rural agriculture stakeholders including the government, private sector and scientific institutions. The project is implemented in partnership with the local Association KUTSEMBA, community-based agricultural associations and the local government. 

INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE PROVINCIAL DECENTRALIZATION IN NIASSA AND NAMPULA

Funded by SDC through UNDP, Initiatives to Promote Provincial Decentralisation in Niassa complements and supports the Government's efforts in the decentralisation process, which was initiated in Mozambique in 2018. The project supports coordination between the national, international and local levels to optimise its response to the challenges brought about by the decentralisation process. United Purpose, our sister organisation, was contracted by UNDP to facilitate the process of implementation, coordination and interaction between provincial, national and civil society actors. Implementing partners are decentralised governance bodies (CEP and CSREP) at Niassa province level, together with the Ministries of Economy and Finance (MEF) and State Administration and Public Service (MAEFP). 

The project aims to: 

• Decentralized governance bodies and the capacities of central government agencies are strengthened and their impartiality improved, with a particular focus on promoting inclusive, equitable and sustainable social development and gender empowerment in subnational governance. 

• Enabling environment for better communication between the provincial government and its elected officials, CSOs and the private sector on the implementation of local policies to achieve the SDGs at provincial level. 

• Improved decentralized governance by testing decentralization reforms and implementing socio-economic projects to improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable population at provincial level. 

• Improved articulation and coordination between the different program actors. 

• Reinforcement of the technical capacity of the National Government, the decentralized. governance bodies and the provincial bodies representing the State to define the technical and legal mechanisms for decentralization and its effective implementation at local level (Province). 

Contact Details

Country Director: Helena Skember

Address: United Purpose, Rua José Craveirinha 198, Sommerschield; c.p. 1073;  Maputo, Mozambique

Tel: 82 363 1646