The Mozambican Civil Society Concerns

The present organizations shared the current situation of the country with the new Finnish ambassador Seija Toro, and explained that at the moment, Mozambique is seen as an insecure country because of the political tensions between government and the main opposition party, Renamo.The civil society organizations also showed their disappointment for the impunity demonstrated in the private and public institutions dominated with the people from the ruling party, Frelimo.***In the last few years, Mozambique has become very well known for the massive mega investments in the natural resource industry. The civil society organizations are concerned about the methodology used for exploiting the resources in the country.There is no clear and inclusive strategy for the use of natural, non-renewable resources. The existing legislation is not widely known, especially in the communities where the natural resources are being exploited by the mega investment industries.In this way, the Mozambican civil society organizations believe that it is very important to think and plan development according to the interest of citizens.Furthermore, civil society organizations are also concerned about the challenges what comes accessing funding for advocacy work due the general economic crises; a significant number of donors has diminished their funding for civil society activities. According to the current situation, civil society organizations concluded that their role should be focused on advocacy work.***Civil society organizations have made many complaints to the donors. The most unanimous was that donors are partly compromised because of their continued support for governments, even when there is evidence of fraud and corruption. According to organizations which attended the round table, the donors do not necessarily apply the Declarations of Paris, Busan and Acra to the countries where  governments are not transparent and democratic.Despite difficulties, civil society in Mozambique has influenced some changes. For example, in the area of mega investment on the natural resources industry,  some of agreements with government have been published on the Ministry of Minerals website since 2013.Civil society will continue looking for better solution that benefits the country and its people. In May, Kepa, together with its partner Mozambican Debt Group, will organize a workshop on the future of Aid in Mozambique.