Marit Nybakk, a member of the Norwegian Parliament for the Labour Party since 1986, participated in a study tour to Mozambique for Nordic Parliamentarians arranged by four UN agencies in Copenhagen. Here are some reflections from Ms. Nybakk, who is the deputy chairperson of Norway’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.
- 22 January: "We die quietly like sheep"
- 23 January: "Meeting the official Mozambique”
- 24 January: It is trendy to use condoms!
- 25 January: Millennium Village
- 26 January: Necessary to listen!
- Final Remarks
Monday 22 January : "We die quietly like sheep."
At 8 am, the delegation was briefed on the programme and on a few practicalities. We then headed for the Maputo General Hospital. The temperature was already high, since December and January are the warmest months in the southern hemisphere.
At the hospital, we were introduced to Youth Friendly Health Services, established through the Geracao Biz (‘Busy Generation’ in Portuguese) programme. The services aim to improve the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents by offering them knowledge, life skills and access to quality services. The waiting room and corridors were filled with teenagers – girls and boys. They waited for information on the use of condoms and on how to avoid HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and prevent early pregnancies. Some of the young women we met were already pregnant.
We were told that 16.2 per cent of the country’s adults – 1.5 million Mozambicans live – are living with HIV, an increase from 8.2 per cent in 1998. This is the tenth highest HIV prevalence in the world, and 58 per cent are women. There are several reasons for this. The social status of women is very low. One of the nurses said that married women are more vulnerable than prostitutes! A prostitute can demand a condom – a wife cannot do the same. And the husband continues to be unfaithful. The doctor told us about a woman in the countryside who had looked him in the eye said: "We die quietly like sheep."
The UN agencies in Mozambique have now launched one of the biggest HIV-prevention programmes in the world. Much of it concentrates on information, prevention, contraceptives, and changing of sexual behaviour. Schools and media are important means. Norway, Denmark and Sweden are among the most important donors.
The hospital does a very good job, and many teenagers come. Schools are more difficult. At the age of thirteen, 70 per cent of the girls are out of schools, which make the programme difficult. "This is our main challenge," the director confessed.
Mozambique’s development has stagnated because of the terrible civil war. The peace process, however, is very impressive. Few countries have managed to do something similar. A big informal sector, inadequate and unpredictable funding and fragmentation at regional level underscore the importance of budget funding from the development aid donors.
Tuesday 23 January:
"Meeting the official Mozambique”
This was a day with the official Mozambique, starting in Parliament. First, we visited the Speaker of Parliament followed by a long and good meeting with representatives from the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and an afternoon meeting with the Deputy Minister of Planning, who was accompanied by political advisors from other ministries. In the afternoon, we met with NGOs – different organizations from trade unions to women activists to the church council were represented.
I was in the group who visited the child-to-child media in the afternoon. Teenagers participate in the development, production and presentation of programmes relating to child and youth issues. The hottest issues were HIV/AIDS, sexual behaviour and the use of condoms. Personally I liked the idea of the project!
Wednesday 24 January: It is trendy to use condoms!
Up at 5!! Leaving at 06.30. What more is there to say about that? We eventually arrived in the Gaza province, in Xai-Xai, where we were met by the Governor and had an hour and a half talk with him and his people.
Then we left for the Joaquim Chissano Secondary and Pre-University School to be briefed on the school's programme on adolescent sexual and reproductive health. This was one programme which really made us pleased and optimistic.
In the school's youth corner, peer educators were providing information on adolescence, HIV/AIDS, menstruation and the use of condoms. "Girls having their first menstruation do not know what is happening to them," said one of the teachers.
Everything was being said very clearly – nothing was being covered up. It was all very specific and concrete. Although the school had its summer holidays, many students had come to greet us. We were also shown a theatre play on sexual behaviour and the necessity of using condoms. The message: It is trendy to use condoms!
Thereafter, we visited Xai-Xai Day Hospital and home-based care programmes. The hospital provides free medical consultations and laboratory tests to HIV-positive children and adults and provides anti-retroviral drugs. "The worst thing is to tell them that they are going to die", said one of the doctors quietly.
Studies and interviews indicate that nutritious food is the single most important support as it helps maintain energy levels and general health. This is especially true for the people on AIDS medications, since the drugs often leave patients feeling ill. So the centre delivers medicine and nutritious food to people with HIV in the village. The centre also takes care of orphans. Among other things, they provide food rations to orphans living in foster families.
Then, we were split up into smaller groups. My group paid two home visits. Let me present Solana, 54, who has AIDS, and her 8-year-old daughter. Solana is a widow; her husband died of AIDS. Her elder, grown-up children were not there. Her son had left for South Africa to get a job. She gets food and medicine delivered to her modest home. It was hard to believe that the little girl would soon become an orphan.
The other person we met was a HIV-positive man living with his wife and daughter, running a small chicken farm. He seemed to be much better off than many of the other infected; still he received nutritious food and medicine.
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Thursday 25 January:
Millennium Village
We spent the morning in the Millennium Village of the Gaza province. The UN has chosen pilot villages in a few countries and tries with donor support to achieve the UN millennium goals locally. As it says in a pamphlet, “The aim of the Millennium Village Project is to contribute to the achievement of the MDGs at grass root level; this based on village action plans.”
For a village to be selected, it has to be poor, but those villages that are selected have the possibility of a better future. The village we visited was about the poorest I had experienced on my many travels to Africa, but it offered education for women. The village water had been improved, houses had been built and several agricultural projects had been initiated.
The most touching and moving visit was to the centre for the rehabilitation of children, a day centre where orphaned and vulnerable children can receive a range of services. The centre was situated in Chókwè, and about 50 children come there every day. The centre uses play therapy, music, drama and other group dynamics.
Friday 26 January: Necessary to listen!
The Norwegian Ambassador had arranged a breakfast meeting with a female human rights' activist. I think it is both useful and necessary to listen to people working in NGOs, in particular, human rights organizations.
The UN projects are high quality. We must continue to provide Mozambique with budget support. In spite of everything, the development policy of the country is promising and Mozambique’s peace process is an ideal for other countries
So - thank you, UN, for the initiative. Thank you to the parliamentarians for such good company. And warm thoughts to the people of Mozambique; good luck!
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Nordic Parliamentarians Learn about UN Cooperation, AIDS and the MDGs in Mozambique |
