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Mozambique Goodwill Ambassador Tour: Day One
MAPUTO — It was a very busy first full day of business for the visiting Goodwill Ambassadors from Nordic countries. First stop was the Youth Friendly Health Services at Maputu Central Hospital. Started in 1999 and supported by UNFPA, the centre provides young people (aged 10 to 24) with information, counselling, diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, and HIV prevention, testing and treatment. It receives about 60 clients daily.
Another activity at the Youth Friendly Health Services is a mutual support group for young people living with HIV and AIDS, which was established in 2005 through partnership between UNFPA, Pathfinder and the World Bank. The group meets every Saturday for discussions among themselves and with service providers, physiologists and medical doctors. Mikko Kuustonen told the press how elated he was to have discovered a service where young people could speak freely about sexuality and sexual and reproductive health issues.
Second stop was the National Midwifery Association, where the Goodwill Ambassadors learned about the inadequacies of the maternal health care in Mozambique, where only 2400 midwives attend to a million pregnancies a year in a population of 19.8 million people. The inadequacy of maternal care is further compounded by the long hours and low salaries the midwives endure.
The next stop: the General Union of Cooperatives, a group of small farmers living in the suburbs of Maputo. Created in 1980 with a membership of 250, it now has 5500 members comprising mainly unemployed women with little education. Some of the cooperative’s main activities include poultry, agricultural production (fruits, vegetables, cashews, cereals and flowers), vocational training (auto-mechanics) and micro-credit.
Third stop: Forum Mulher, an umbrella organization for 74 women’s NGOs in Mozambique committed to women’s empowerment through lobbying and advocacy as well as information, education and communication. Gender-based violence, especially domestic violence, is the biggest challenge facing Mozambican women, said the Forum’s Executive Director Graca Samo. The problem is so endemic, she said, that even educated and well-off women sometimes offer justification for it. She attributed this to the pervasiveness of the culture of gender imbalances and inequities that has been internalized by women. Ms. Samo said that the Forum is currently working, with the assistance of partners such as UNFPA, on the adoption of a domestic violence bill.
A courtesy call on the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs wrapped up the day’s official engagements. His Ministry coordinates United Nations programmes in the country and collaborates with UNFPA in the design, approval, review, monitoring and evaluation and closing of the country programmes.
The Nordic Goodwill Ambassadors Tour: Day Two
INHAMBANE — The sun rose bright and early over Inhambane, some 500 kilometres northeast of Maputo. And with it rose the people, especially various government officials and members of the Geracao Biz (Busy Generation in Portuguese) – an internationally recognized organization of young community peer activists. The occasion: a visit by the four Nordic Goodwill Ambassadors.
At 11:30 am, the light aircraft carrying the Goodwill Ambassadors and UNFPA representative Petra Lantz touched down in Inhambane to a rapturous welcome. Protocol could wait a few more minutes. The ambassadors could not resist the infectious songs and dance moves of members of Geracao Biz and joined in the merrymaking.
At the Provincial Governor’s Office, the guests heard a litany of UNFPA’s laudable work in the province. UNFPA’s activities in the province began in 2003 in the areas of sexual and reproductive health, including maternal mortality reduction. Support to the Geracao Biz followed a year later and was complemented in 2005 by school and community interventions in sexual and reproductive health.
The province’s director of youth and sports spoke of maternity units built and equipped, hundreds of maternal and emergency obstetric health care workers mobilized, and peer educators and community activists trained. He said he hoped this visit was a signal for improved and strengthened cooperation between Mozambique and the Nordic countries represented by the Goodwill Ambassadors.
Other stops on the Inhambane leg of the tour included the Maxixe Municipal Office, Youth Friendly Health Services in Chicuque, a maternity in Maxixe and a Geracao Biz group. At each stop, Goodwill Ambassadors were able to freely interact with stakeholders.
Reflections from the Nordic Goodwill Ambassadors on their Trip to Mozambique
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MAPUTO — “At Forum Mulher in Maputo, we were told that gender-based violence is the greatest problem facing the Mozambican women,” said Norwegian Goodwill Ambassador Kari Jaquesson. “This is a problem that does not need money to solve. It is intolerable to let a culture of violence against women continue to sap the laudable developments we have heard and seen in Mozambique. We are all responsible for ending this. So, let us just do it.”
“We are happy to discover the pervasiveness of hope and quest for improvement among the people,” said Danish author and journalist Hanne-Vibeke Holst. While we will continue to do our part to help, we encourage the people of Mozambique to stay the course and look forward to the day soon when there will no longer be need for Goodwill Ambassadors.
“The greatest difference between my two visits to Mozambique is the current prevalence of peace and forgiveness,” said Finnish singer/songwriter Mikko Kuustonen. “In the aftermath of the civil war, people have been able to forgive each other more readily than in other places that have experienced war. We hope that the country should continue on its current path of peace and reconciliation, because without it, there can never be development.”
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Mozambique Country Profile |
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Goodwill Ambassadors |
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Also read Kari Jaquesson’s online blog about the tour (in Norwegian) |
