Mozambique: Portugal backs training project for youths in Cabo Delgado

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Mozambique: Portugal backs training project for youths in Cabo Delgado

2:37 CAT | 11 Apr 2022

FILE PHOTO - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

Over 200 young people from Cabo Delgado province will benefit from training as part of an initiative by the Portuguese embassy in Maputo that aims to create opportunities for young people affected by terrorism in northern Mozambique.

The initiative, called +Emprego, aims to “increase the economic opportunities of the population of the province, particularly young people, contributing to improving access to decent work and their income in activities directly or indirectly related to the natural gas industry,” according to a statement from the Portuguese embassy in Maputo published on Monday.

The project, launched in 2020, is funded by the European Union in an unspecified amount and has the support of the Aga Khan Foundation, and is implemented by Camões.

The agreement for this phase of the project will be signed on Tuesday in Maputo at an event attended by the ambassadors of Portugal in Mozambique, António Costa Moura, and the European Union in Mozambique António Benedito Sánchez.

The initiative, which will run until December 2024, also aims to train the young people involved in drawing up plans and basic business management to “provide the population with access to opportunities generated by investments in the natural gas sector.

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

Unemployment and lack of opportunities – notably in emerging gas-related investments – have been pointed out by several observers as some of the causes of recruitment of young people from Cabo Delgado to rebel groups.

There are 784,000 internally displaced people due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.

Since July 2021, an offensive by government troops with Rwandan support, later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), has allowed areas where rebels were present to recover. Still, their flight has provoked new attacks in other districts used as a passage or temporary refuge.

Source: Lusa