Mozambique: EUMAM-MOZ supports Casa do Gaiato
Mozambican social incubator, MUVA, shines spotlight on the interaction between gender and conservation in Southern Africa
3:49 CAT | 30 Nov 2022
Representatives of AFD, MUVA and the Embassy of France in Mozambique at the launch of the Considere-A exhibition.
The Wild Basil podcast, produced by Mozambican social incubator, MUVA (Associação do Empoderamento da Rapariga Mozambicana), is using the power of stories to increase awareness and understanding of conservation in southern Africa. The podcast brings together eight environmentalists who have helped to shape the landscape of nature conservation in the region to share their stories in a series of compelling personal accounts.
The podcast was launched in November to coincide with COP15, the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, to discuss urgent action to protect biodiversity and restore ecosystems. The podcast tells the stories of eight conservationists and their work to protect and preserve the African bush and wildlife across Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa.
Luize Guimaraes, MUVA’s executive director, says the podcast focuses on extraordinary professionals who have been instrumental in transforming the conservation sector in Southern Africa over the last five decades. “We took inspiration from the movie Hidden Figures to tell the stories of “figures” who have made a difference on the ground. These stories are inextricably linked to Southern Africa’s own story and give us an intimate new look at how conservation and the protection of biodiversity in the region have developed to truly become a matter of local pride,” says Luize.
The first episode of the eight-part podcast series introduces us to Anabela Rodrigues, who left her ballet lessons and secondary school to join the independence struggle in Mozambique. Anabela was a soldier in the destaçamento feminine, a contingent of female freedom fighters, and then went on to become the first manager of the Niassa reserve after the country’s independence. The series also includes episodes featuring South African Cathy Dreyer, the Head Ranger of the Kruger National Park, and Dr Moreangels Mbizah, a conservation biologist studying carnivores in Zimbabwe.
The official launch of the podcast took place at a photography exhibition in Maputo, hosted by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and MUVA. The exhibition showcases both the works of AFD in biodiversity in Mozambique and photographs taken by participants in CONSIDER, a MUVA research project that works with conservation partners to empower women to identify how gendered social norms can influence their involvement in biodiversity conservation. “MUVA has always tried to be creative, push boundaries, and look for new solutions to women’s economic empowerment that has not been considered before. Gender and biodiversity have traditionally been two worlds that have never mixed. Through projects like Wild Basil and CONSIDER we want to explore the intersection between these two areas and test new approaches to addressing issues around both,” says Luize.
AFD, the French public development institution, funds MUVA to support its development and sustainability as a social incubator. “MUVA is already widely recognised for developing and testing innovative and creative initiatives for women’s economic empowerment. Its projects that explore how biodiversity can be integrated into gender-focused development places MUVA’s work in even closer alignment with AFD’s goals to support and accelerate a transition to a fairer and more sustainable world,” says Emilie Petereit, Country Director for AFD in Mozambique.
- Wild Basil is available on Spotify. Click here to listen to the first episode: https://open.spotify.com/show/391e612hJxGKZPZhU1hupK?si=701R6_MJQP6lkCsLHAKI9g&nd=1
ABOUT MUVA
MUVA is a social incubator focusing on removing barriers to inclusive development by developing innovative approaches for women’s economic empowerment (WEE), implementing methodologies that enable systems change for WEE, generate evidence and advocate based on evidence for change at scale. MUVA aims to increase the capacity of disadvantaged adolescents and young women in Mozambique to participate in the economy, brokering opportunities for decent work, tackling questions of agency to enhance uptake of work opportunities, and identifying, testing and supporting solutions to barriers to decent work. MUVA works to influence the enabling environment.
ABOUT AFD
AFD Group implements France’s policy in the areas of development and international solidarity. The Group includes Agence Française de Développement (AFD), which finances the public sector and NGOs, as well as research and education in sustainable development; its subsidiary Proparco, which is dedicated to private sector financing; and Expertise France, a technical cooperation agency. The Group finances supports and accelerates transitions towards a fairer, more resilient world.
With our partners, we are building shared solutions with and for the people of the Global South. Our teams are at work on more than 4,000 projects in the field, in the French Overseas Departments and Territories, in 115 countries and in regions in crisis. We strive to protect global public goods – promoting a stable climate, biodiversity, and peace, as well as gender equality, education and healthcare. In this way, we contribute to the commitment of France and the French people to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Towards a world in common.
Source: AFD - Agence Française de Développement / Press Release
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