Maputo, July 10, 2025 (Lusa) - The Canadian government has allocated 9.7 million Canadian dollars (€6 million) to support women’s rights organisations and consolidate feminist identity in Mozambique, it announced on Thursday.
This support forms part of phase II of the ALIADAS programme, a five-year initiative that Global Affairs Canada (GAC) funds as part of the Canadian government’s commitment to promoting women’s rights and gender equality in countries in the Global South.
According to the executive director of the ALIADAS programme, it aims to focus on groups that have emerged in recent times.
‘In addition to women affected by the conflict in Cabo Delgado, LGBTQI+ women and young women in urban and rural areas also need special attention,’ said Paula Monjane at the launch ceremony in Maputo.
She explained that the programme specifically targets "collectives, whether organisations or women’s groups working for women’s rights", in addition to combating gender-based violence.
The ALIADAS programme also wants to focus on participation in the political dialogue process promoted by Mozambican President Daniel Chapo through various organisations across the country.
“All the reforms since the Constitution of the Republic and other reforms that will take place within the framework of the dialogue, we think that this is an opportunity for this group of women, these movements that we support, to really make a difference in this regard,” she explained.
She stated that, in the context of large oil exploration and extraction projects in general, women face the most significant challenges, either because they lose land for cultivation or due to widespread exclusion, which is why ALIADAS aims to help reverse the situation.
“We are currently discussing the local content law, considering how the local content law takes into account the interests of women, and, in this sense, we can support a specific event or events that aim to mobilise and support women actually to participate in the discussion on the local content law,” she added.
The Civil Society Learning and Capacity Building Centre (CESC) implemented the first phase (2019-2024) in Mozambique to strengthen the feminist movement and increase the influence and sustainability of women-led organisations in the country.
In five years, ALIADAS has directly supported 14 feminist organisations, with a focus on organisations working in the areas of sexual and reproductive rights, gender-based violence, women’s political leadership and economic justice.
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