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https://dfid.blog.gov.uk/2008/12/15/a-meeting-with-the-prime-minister-of-mozambique/

A meeting with the Prime Minister of Mozambique

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Africa, Health

I have been incredibly busy in the two weeks following on from World AIDS Day. My DFID colleague Katie Bigmore and I and Mauricio Cysne from UNAIDS joined a team from the World Bank who were reviewing Mozambique’s World Bank MAP programme (Multi-country HIV/AIDS Programme for Africa).

The MAP programme provides grant financing rather than the Bank’s more usual IDA (International Development Association) credit funding to more than 30 countries tackling the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It has committed more than $1.6 billion to fight AIDS since its inception. Mozambique secured MAP funds in 2004, and has been using those funds to coordinate the national response to HIV/AIDS through the countries National AIDS Committee.

The National AIDS Committee has a board, which is chaired by Mozambique’s Prime Minister, Luisa Dias Diogo, and operates through a secretariat, chaired by Joanna Mangueira. The National AIDS Committee is well known throughout the country, it has established a network which supports a multisectoral response and reaches down from the central to the provincial and district levels. One of the particular challenges that it has faced is how to channel funds to civil society, and this challenge has been hampering the effective use the available funding, particularly the resources intended to work through civil society.

In Mozambique, Non Government Organisations are often seen, primarily, as service providers, but many NGOs and civil society organisations here have an equally important function of advocacy and can be an important force for strengthening accountability for an effective national response to the epidemic. The review of the MAP programme has allowed thought to be given to how the remaining funds of the MAP programme can be spent effectively before the end of the current programme in 2009, to make sure that Mozambique is eligible for a second MAP programme.

The highlight of the mission was a meeting last week with the Prime Minister of Mozambique, Luisa Dias Diogo. We shook hands, sat down and after a brief welcome from the Prime Minister, Susan Hulme from the World Bank set out some of the issues facing the MAP programme.

Prime Minister Diogo - click for bigger image
Prime Minister Diogo - UN Photo by Jean-Marc Ferre

Prime Minister Diogo - Mozambique’s first woman Prime Minister and ranked 89th on the 2007 Forbes World’s 100 most powerful women list (in large part for her anti-poverty work) - then gave us her considered opinion. The Prime Minister was an inspiring person to meet, she has a clear grasp of the HIV/AIDS situation in Mozambique and recognises the main challenges to an effective national response.

She is justifiably proud of the national prevention strategy that Mozambique launched on World AIDS day, and also understands the importance of effectively engaging civil society in the national response. HIV prevalence in Mozambique has remained at 16% of the sexually active population in the two most recent surveys, the last being in 2007, but some provinces have seen prevalence rates rise to over 23%.

A renewed effort is needed to tackle this huge threat to the nation's further development and the national prevention strategy hopefully marks the beginning of these renewed efforts to turn around the epidemic. The Prime Minister is a champion of women’s empowerment, and recognises that any success in tackling the epidemic must come from active support and full engagement of women in the national response.

A recent review of the key drivers of the HIV epidemic in Mozambique has highlighted the problem of multiple concurrent partnerships, with many men having more than one sexual partner at a time. An important part of the future response needs to focus on reducing the number of multiple concurrent partnerships and ensuring that people are aware of the need to have safe sex and have access to and use condoms.

I believe that an effective and well coordinated national communication response will be key and that a clear vision for that communication needs to emerge over the coming months. Effective engagement and support of civil society participation, giving people a stronger voice in the national response will also be critically important.

I am convinced that under Prime Minister Diogo’s leadership, with new ways of engaging and financing civil society participation being developed, Mozambique’s MAP programme will deliver effective support over the coming year, increasing the possibility of Mozambique securing a second phase of funding and building a solid foundation for more effective engagement of civil society in future.

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3 comments

  1. Comment by tim garbutt posted on

    Also: http://www.surinschoolcharity.org/blogs

    Hi Neil

    A very interesting artiucle and our charity looks to build schools in Mozambique etc.

    In your view, how effective is DFID and Mozambique in moving aid from the capital to eradicate disease, tainted water etc etc.

    Is corruption and/or legacy government debt much of an issue?

    Kindest regards.

    Tim

  2. Comment by Neil Squires posted on

    Hi Tim
    You asked about whether aid money given centrally reaches the parts of the country where the problems are. There is a very real recognition in Mozambique of inequalities that exist both in terms of health and access to services and in terms of current resource allocation, which is based in large part of historic expenditure and existing infrastructure and does not necessarily reflect need. Under the health Sector Wide Approach (SWAp) there used to be a fund for the provinces, which was meant to compensate for any unequal distribution of state resources to different provinces. Under the new agreement, more equitable resource allocation will be built in to the State resource allocation system. Work is on going to develop a accounting and financial traking system (known as eSISTAFE) which will give a much clearer picture of resource allocation and spend. What is clear however is that there is a real political commitment to address inequalities - at least in the Ministry of Health. Minister Garrido was on the panel of the recently concluded WHO Social Determinants of health study, chaired by Sir Michael Marmott, which looked at how to "close the (inequalities) gap in a generation". (http://www.who.int/social_determinants/final_report/en/ ). When I last spoke to the Minister he was keen that Mozambique set in train work to address inequalities in health, and this is soomething DFID hopes to support over the coming year. This work will certainly look at the determinants of health - access to water and sanitation etc. On the education question, the Ministry of Education is committed to universal access to primary education, and has been successful in increasing enrollment in primary education, but quality and retention remain a major challenge. DFID has been supporting the director of human resources to develop a comprehensive HR plan which would help ensure that planned increases in numbers of teachers are disbributed in ways which ensure that existing inequalities in pupil teacher ratio's between provinces are addressed - this is a priority being considered by all the development partners who support the FASE (education common fund). On the issue of inequalities in general, I think I will need to come back to this in a future blog.

  3. Comment by gentil posted on

    Tim asked if " corruption and/or legacy government debt much of an issue?!

    would like to suggest some sites where he can find a lot of reading material on this subject namely;

    http://www.integridadepublica.org.mz - Center for Public Integrity (CIP) is promoting intergity, transparency, ethics and good governance in the public sphere, and also human rights in Mozambique.
    http://www.divida.org – The Mozambican Dept Group (GMD) its an alliance of individuals and groups committed to the social and economical development of the country, in general, and with the external dept, poverty and good governance, in particular

    cheers

    paulo