On 28 May, the Government of Flanders approved the fourth Country Strategy Paper for development cooperation with Mozambique. In doing so, Flanders once again gives depth and perspective to this cooperation for the next five years (2021-2025). Flanders developed the Strategy Paper in consultation with the Mozambican government and government. It is also based on a survey of the broad Flemish civil society and on the evaluation of the implementation of the previous Country Strategy Paper (2016-2020).
Flanders and Mozambique will continue to focus on the health sector. In addition, further efforts are being made to develop a stronger and more efficient health system, both at the central and provincial level. With Flanders’ support, this system will also be adapted to prevent the current pandemic and possible future health disasters as much as possible and, if necessary, to better control it.
Flanders also continues to focus on improving access to sexual and reproductive health care. The previous focus on mainly female adolescents is extended to additional vulnerable groups, including people with physical and/or mental disabilities, people with HIV and AIDS, members of sexual and/or gender minorities and internally displaced persons. In order to be able to reach these groups, the service provision will have to be partly adapted, but the health personnel will also have to receive additional training. At the same time, the general quality of care must be strengthened.
Finally, Flanders also continues to focus on the national promotion of a health policy based on scientific evidence. The Mozambican government should be able to use the scarce financial and human resources with the greatest possible effectiveness and health gain. At the same time, it is also important that it can forcefully contradict and stop myths about the alleged success of some harmful traditional practices or against important applications of modern medicine, such as vaccination.
Foto © UNHCR/Martim Gray Pereira
