Women's empowerment

The project has highlighted the receptiveness of municipal governance structures to the voices of young people. It is, therefore, opportune to invest in initiatives that actively incorporate youth perspectives into the development of public policies concerning youth affairs.

Integrating project activities with existing municipality initiatives involving youth has proven to be a successful strategy for ensuring project sustainability. In addition to creating new dialogue spaces between municipal authorities and youth, this project leveraged existing platforms, such as annual meetings with the local councilors, to include youth consultation in the municipal annual activity plans. This approach fostered stronger youth participation following the project capacity-building activities.

Clear communication with project stakeholders is essential to foster effective collaboration and mitigate potential misunderstandings or disputes. This should include a clear description of their roles and responsibilities, benefits, and timelines. In this project, discrepancies in the beneficiary selection and external consultant management would have been improved if all the stakeholders had received and signed specific Terms of Reference (ToR) outlining their duties, responsibilities, compensation, expected deliverables, and timeline.

The challenges posed by an unexpected event, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, underscored the importance of fostering strong connections with project stakeholders, adaptability, and proactive engagement. In this case, faced with a lockdown and the inability to conduct planned activities, the project successfully maintained its course, sustained stakeholder engagement, and capitalized on unforeseen opportunities to achieve enhanced outcomes.

The project experience revealed that regular follow-up with project partners to monitor key activities, such as beneficiary selection, ensures accountability and maintains alignment with project goals and objectives. In this case, the project focal points across the provinces undertook the task of beneficiary selection without the consistent guidance and follow-up from the grantee. This led to the adoption of diverse selection criteria, some of which inadvertently contributed to higher participant turnover rates.

Community radio debates have proven to be a powerful tool for amplifying the voices of youth within social and political spheres. In this project, radio debates, led by project beneficiaries, drew significant audience engagement, as indicated by the influx of phone calls received during broadcasts. This interaction facilitated meaningful dialogue among youth and boosted the self-confidence of project beneficiaries.

The inclusion of political parties in the development and planning of activities during the project design phase could have further enriched the initiative's relevance and ensured a broader and more inclusive platform for youth participation in Mozambique's democratic development processes. In this project, specific activities aimed at encouraging youth involvement in political parties resulted in eighty-nine percent of the project beneficiaries registering with political parties. However, the potential for even greater youth involvement in political activities could have been realized by involving political party representatives in the design of tailored activities to promote active participation and enhance engagement in party-related initiatives.

Prevailing poverty, a reality for many grassroots women, makes it hard for them to focus on pushing for their rights over economic necessity. In fact, economic empowerment can put people in a position to care more about the former and therefore projects that look to advance rights at this level should seek to incorporate an economic development component as part of the wider project.

Empowering women when it comes to realizing their rights, not just learning about them, requires the support of men – both in their family and in the community at-large – and they should be brought on board to champion wider societal transformation around gender.

The volume of activities proposed by a project does not always equate to a greater impact. Sometimes giving more focus, either in terms of geographic spread or to the activities being undertaken, can generate more sustained and involved engagement and more substantive change.