Lack of opportunities for young Mozambicans motivates conflicts – Archbishop

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Lack of opportunities for young Mozambicans motivates conflicts – Archbishop

8:17 CAT | 22 Nov 2021

Photo: Manuel Araujo on Facebook

The Archbishop of Beira, Claudio Dalla Zuanna, said today that the lack of opportunities for young people is one of the main reasons for the armed conflicts in Mozambique.

“Peace requires justice and opportunities for young people. The problem of hope and opportunities for young people is the central problem behind new conflicts in Mozambique,” said Zuanna after the opening of the V International Congress of the Catholic University of Mozambique.

Most young people are unable to find employment opportunities to build a future, which makes them susceptible to being recruited, he said.

“They will easily be enticed by any kind of responses that might seem viable,” and that could lead to “terrorism or organised crime” the archbishop said.

“I think that one of the central issues in Cabo Delgado is to give people opportunities, especially young people,” he added.

Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas, but has been terrorized since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.

The conflict has already cost more than 3,100 lives, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and displaced more than 817,000, according to the Mozambican authorities.

The archbishop noted that these figures leave out the people who have died in the bush and the many who are still missing.

The future of youth is one of the themes of the three-day meeting of the Catholic University of Mozambique.in the city of Beira, held under the motto “Encouraging scientific production for the promotion of peace, social justice and development”.

Source: Lusa