Violence Against Women
Source: Mozambique News Agency (AIM)
The Catalan Development Cooperation Agency is to disburse 60,000 euros (about 78,000 US dollars) to finance activities contained in Mozambique's National Action Plan for the Advancement of Women, for the period 210-2014.
To this end, the Minister of Women's Affairs and Social Welfare, Iolanda Cintura, and the general director of the Catalan Agency, Carlos Llorens i Villa, on Friday renewed a memorandum of understanding, covering these activities.
The package of activities includes publicising the law on domestic violence against women, support for integrating a gender perspective into national development policies and programmes, and the institutional strengthening of the Councils for Women's Advancement.
The renewal of the memorandum, initially signed in 2008, will allow expansion of the network of District Women's Advancement Councils. To date, 28 of these bodies exist in various parts of the country.
"The needs of Mozambican women are enormous, but in this renewal of our cooperation we are prioritising training actions, publicity for women's rights, establishing gender units in selected sectors, and setting up District Women's Advancement Councils", said Cintura.
The purpose of these Councils is to promote gender equality in Mozambique, and to minimize the various types of violence that women suffer.
Llorens i Villa pledged that the Catalan Development Cooperation Agency will continue to support Mozambique, despite the financial crisis shaking various countries of the euro zone.
He said that Catalonia has a strong interest in women's empowerment, given the fundamental role that women play in various spheres of society.