Tag Archives: DELPAZ

Evelina, Afonso Dhlakama’s former cook who used certified seeds for the first time

By family tradition, Evelina Zacarias had stored some of the maize kernels from her harvest in the barn to use them as seed for the next farming season in 2023, but climate change, which has caused drought in her village, has called this practice into question.

“We always kept the kernels that looked healthier. It’s a tradition that goes back to my grandparents, but as the rainy season waned, the seeds sprouted and withered immediately due to the sun at this stage, and so we lost most of the production, with one ear or the other surviving” in the field, which was then harvested and stored for planting, she explains.

The former guerrilla of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) was reintegrated after her recent demobilisation in the village of Zivale, a locality in the interior of Muda Serração, in the district of Gondola, in the province of Manica, where, in addition to her family, she cultivates to support herself.

She joined a farmers’ association as part of the disarmament, demobilisation and social reintegration (DDR) process and received certified seed for the first time thanks to a DELPAZ support line.

“We received the certified seeds and I planted them in the field for the first time. Wary, I set aside a plot where I sowed traditional seeds, but everything that sprouted died because of the sun. All the food I have today comes from certified seed,” she explained.

“The certified seeds have greatly improved my income from field production. I had no idea that the drought was caused by climate change and that we had to react with new farming techniques and improved seeds that DELPAZ technicians are teaching us,” she remarks, as she rearranges the bundles of hay that will cover a new barn.

Evelina Zacarias, 50, reintegrated in Zivale, fought for the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) guerrillas for 18 years, serving as a carer for the historical leader’s children and then as Afonso Dhlakama’s cook, and has been demobilised twice, most recently in June 2020.

Evelina was recruited into guerrilla warfare at the age of seven in 1981, during the 16-year civil war, and was demobilised a first time in 1994 by the UN peacekeeping mission in Mozambique (Onumoz). After 18 years of civilian life, she rejoined the guerrillas to ‘fight for democracy’ in 2012, when Afonso Dhlakama summoned and regrouped former guerrillas in the Gorongosa mountain range in Sofala.

“I was recruited with my father in Mpunga and from there with General Ossufo (Momade) we left for Gorongosa, then for a base in Maringue and then for Massala,” a journey that took months on foot, the woman recounts, pointing out that it was in Massala that she was first demobilised.

Now the mother of eight children, all born during the intervals of the conflicts, she initially received military training for combat but was then assigned to look after the children of President Afonso Dhlakama, who later also served as cook.

“There were houses where the leader’s wives and children were and we looked after them. We washed their clothes in the rivers and cooked for them until the end of the war. President Dhlakama always came there where the wives and children were and assured us that one day the war would end, and this went on until we were demobilised for the first time in 1992,” she says with an enviable energy in her gestures.

The former guerrilla recalls that on her first demobilisation she returned to her home village of Búzi with a machete, an axe, a hoe and a bank cheque, which she never cashed because it burnt down in the hut where she lived during a fire.

She was demobilised again as part of the Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) process – which stems from the peace agreement signed in 2019 – and is now devoting her life to her family and farming.

“We are learning to overcome the drought with new production methods and this will improve our income, so we can take care of our family,” says Evelina, her usual discreet smile highlighting the dark features that cross her face.

She hopes to one day mechanise farming and abandon the hoe he uses to cultivate his two hectares of land, dedicated exclusively to growing maize and sesame.

The ex-guerrillas are among the thousands of beneficiaries of the DELPAZ Programme, which ensures the economic and social reintegration of all ex-combatants, their families and rural communities affected by the conflict, in order to achieve lasting peace in Mozambique.

 

 

DELPAZ continues to consolidate fairer, more peaceful, and more resilient communities

Over 100 participants from 14 districts where DELPAZ is being implemented, in the provinces of Sofala, Manica, and Tete, together with partners, gathered yesterday in Chimoio (Manica) to reflect on four years of program implementation. They agreed that DELPAZ is consolidating fairer, more peaceful, and more resilient communities.

At the reflection seminar on experiences, lessons, and good practices of social inclusion, dialogue for peacebuilding, and gender balance in local development, participants emphasized that the most relevant experiences are focused on valuing diversity and promoting dialogue.

They highlighted greater participation of women, the recognition of local voices, the strengthening of community dialogue – which acknowledges and values local languages – equity of opportunities, reintegration of historically marginalized groups such as ex-combatants and conflict victims, as essential pathways to building a fairer, more peaceful, and more resilient society.

Speaking on the occasion, Osman Cossing, Program Coordinator at the Institute for Multiparty Democracy (IMD) – which organized the event – stated that “Peace is real when it is inclusive and voices are heard and valued,” stressing that “democracy begins with dialogue.”

Tony Mossio, DELPAZ coordinator for the local governance component through the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), noted that support was provided at all levels in an inclusive, participatory process, sensitive to cultural, gender, and ideological differences, despite initial challenges due to limited understanding of the program.

Meanwhile, Pedrito Cambrão, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at UniZambeze University, when addressing the theme “Peace, governance and inclusive local development in a post-conflict context”, underlined that without peace, everything is unstable and fragile. He insisted on the need for educational practices that heal the wounds of the past, consolidate dialogue, reconciliation, forgiveness, listening, and sharing.

“The rope that is not well tied comes undone with the first rain,” he remarked, alluding to the fact that if commitments in the Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) process of Renamo ex-combatants are not treated seriously, “we risk reopening old wounds and losing the delicate thread that holds us together.”

Quoting the proverb “the river does not drink its own water”, he appealed to the executive power not to act for its own benefit and reinforced that “there is no peace that can endure without the people.”

Community Champions

The voices of community champions, who shared the transformations experienced in their lives and communities, were one of the highlights of the presentation of DELPAZ’s historical results, delivered by Giulia Zingaro of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). AICS implements DELPAZ in the provinces of Manica and Tete, with the support of Helpcode leading the NGO consortium in Manica and Save the Children in Tete.

Isac Cerveja, president of Ponto Verde in Báruè, Manica district, earned strong applause when he proudly declared: “We were small farmers, and now we are small entrepreneurs,” thanks to a broadened vision that recognizes agriculture as a driver of development.

“The expansion of Ponto Verde to five hectares enabled the purchase of an irrigation motor pump with our own resources from agricultural product sales, and now DELPAZ has provided a system capable of irrigating up to 60 hectares of farmland,” he said, also highlighting new market linkages, including participation at FACIM last year and again this year, as a key element for financial sustainability.

Similarly, Alcélia Aristide Saimon, another DELPAZ champion, explained that after completing a tailoring course, she now sews clothes to sell in remote communities with little access to clothing. In the poorest areas, she exchanges garments and school uniforms for maize, ensuring that children can attend school.

Armando Taunde expressed satisfaction with the inclusion of his children in vocational training across several practical fields, noted that their activities are progressing, and appealed for the program to be extended to other districts not yet covered by DELPAZ.

Independent consultants Luís Taiado and Nelson Moda presented preliminary results of a study focused on lessons and good practices of social inclusion, gender empowerment, dialogue for peacebuilding, and equitable local development. They pointed to broader and more active participation of women, including DDR beneficiaries, and emphasized that DELPAZ has successfully rooted itself in communities.

However, they cautioned that despite progress achieved, challenges remain, such as weak coordination among partners, local governments, and communities during DDR implementation, as well as perceptions of stigmatization and marginalization among some DDR members who still do not fully identify with the program.

Given the complexity of the Mozambican context, marked by periods of armed conflict and socio-political tensions, an appeal was made to strengthen dialogue, which has proven to be an indispensable tool for building sustainable peace.

The Secretary of State of Manica Province, Lourenço Lindone, who opened and closed the event, praised the engagement of cooperation partners in seeking resources to fund programs that improve the social lives of the population in the three provinces.

“The main lines of intervention of DELPAZ, [a program of the Government of Mozambique funded by the European Union] have complemented the efforts of central and local government in promoting good practices for harmonious social coexistence in communities,” stressed Lourenço Lindone.

 

Lurdes, a former combatant who fed a company, now produces to grow her children

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Lurdes António, 68, didn’t have access to formal education in her childhood, like most women in rural Mozambique at that time. She was recruited to the Minga base of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) in 1982, at the age of 26. She underwent military training in Mandie, in the district of Guro, in the province of Manica.

At the height of the civil war, she spent time at five military bases belonging to the guerrillas, producing food in the civilian and military fields and cooking for the company, where she later met her husband, also a former guerrilla.

“My job was to carry the soldiers’ luggage and cook for them on their missions. If they told us we were going somewhere, we just carried their luggage and went on, and once the programme was over – whether it was reconnaissance or an attack – we returned. Then they’d send us home and we’d be called up when there was a new programme,” she says.

Drought and severe famine hit Mozambique at the end of the 1980s, and “terrible suffering” shook her company when she and her husband decided to abandon the war and travel to settle in Nhamadjiua, in the administrative post of Nhampassa, in the district of Barué, Manica province, where they were later demobilised with the end of the war in 1992.

“In 2012 we once again answered ‘the call of the revolution’, summoned by the historic leader Afonso Dhlakama,” who had already been denouncing serious flaws in the implementation of the Rome General Peace Agreement (GPA).

Lurdes António was demobilised again with her husband in 2021, as part of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) process of the former Renamo guerrillas in Barué.

Since then she has dedicated herself to farming and has learned new agricultural techniques introduced with the DELPAZ Programme, which is ensuring the economic and social reintegration of all ex-combatants, their families and rural communities affected by the conflict in order to achieve lasting peace in Mozambique.

“DELPAZ has come and is teaching us. We used to grow crops in a rudimentary way, with traditional seeds, and we had a lot of losses, but now we’re using improved agricultural techniques, we use lines for the pits when sowing, and we already have income to educate our children,” she explains, thrilled with her new achievements.

 

 

Investing in women: accelerating progress

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On the day on which International Women’s Day is celebrated all over the world, we want to recall the message launched by Amélia Andalusa, from Dunda, Macossa district, in the province of Manica, during the first women’s camp organised by the DELPAZ Programme last November: “Conflict is a trauma for women, in every part of our lives. But now we want to continue to live in peace and we want to be emancipated, to do agriculture, small businesses, raise animals, we also know that there is digital economic emancipation, where we can use our phones to trade”.

This year, in fact, the International Women’s Day 2024 focuses on the crucial theme of ‘Investing in Women: Accelerating Progress’.[i] An opportunity to reflect on the importance of ensuring the rights of women and girls in all spheres of life, recognising that this not only fuels prosperous and just economies, but also helps to preserve a healthy planet for future generations.

The UNWomen report highlights that achieving gender equality in the Sustainable Development Goals requires USD 360 billion per year.[ii] However, the focus must not be limited to increasing funding, but also to reforming institutions at all levels so that the promotion of women’s empowerment becomes a political priority and an essential public investment.

To ‘accelerate progress’, UNWomen emphasises the need to ensure women’s access to financial resources, land, information, and technology. [iii]Promoting decent and sustainable employment, recognising the value of women’s care work, combating gender-based violence and promoting women’s participation in all decision-making processes are key actions.

The DELPAZ programme, an EU-funded Mozambican government programme, managed in collaboration with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), and the Austrian cooperation agency (ADA), and implemented by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) in the Provinces of Manica and Tete, and ADA in Sofala Province, is committed to translating these principles into concrete actions. Working closely with local institutions, DELPAZ promotes investments in public infrastructure to reduce inequalities in access to resources and improve women’s empowerment.

DELPAZ takes an inclusive approach, working on raising community awareness about peacebuilding, social inclusion and combating gender-based violence. And it does so by starting with voices, points of view, the creation of spaces for women – fundamental elements of women’s agency. DELPAZ is also committed to creating self-employment opportunities through vocational training courses and support for micro-enterprise start-ups, with a focus on women’s economic empowerment.

A tangible example of DELPAZ’s commitment is the Solidarity Camp in the Báruè District, Manica Province, organized in November 2023. This collective practice promotes solidarity, inclusion, and diversity, strengthening the role of women as local actors and building their leadership. Through these camps, women actively participate in decision-making processes, identify vulnerabilities and needs, and build concrete alternatives supported by the programme. Thus, we want to celebrate this 8 March 2024 by sharing the Declaration drafted by the women and men who participated in the Solidarity Camp.

On the day, Amélia Andalusa was very clear: ‘We already have our savings group and we need to raise awareness of other women. That’s why we want more camps like this! They should be organised in all districts, replicated and held in the communities, because that’s how we empower women and also men.”

AICS intensifies its efforts through initiatives focused on women’s access to financial resources, land and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Projects such as ‘Coding Girls’ aim to enhance women’s skills, opening up new opportunities for access to decent jobs in ICTs. Furthermore, initiatives such as ‘As Mulheres do SUSTENTA’ contribute concretely to the promotion of equal participation and leadership of women in rural areas.

The commitment of AICS to the DELPAZ Programme, reflects a holistic and targeted approach to addressing gender inequalities, providing concrete and sustainable solutions to ensure the well-being and empowerment of women in 2024 and beyond.

[i]  https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/announcement/2023/12/international-womens-day-2024-invest-in-women-accelerate-progress

[ii]  https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2023/09/progress-on-the-sustainable-development-goals-the-gender-snapshot-2023

[iii] https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/explainer/2024/02/five-things-to-accelerate-womens-economic-empowerment