Mozambican children benefit from a partnership between Unicef and Gorongoza

“ ANDthis partnership represents much more than the formalization of a collaboration. It represents a common commitment to the present and future of children, adolescents and young people in Sofala Province,” said Mary Eagleton, representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Maputo.

Speaking during the signing ceremony of the memorandum with the Gorongosa Restoration Project, which manages Gorongosa National Park, the head pointed out that one of the priorities will be the training of young people for life and the labor market through training in professional skills, entrepreneurship, food processing and the use of renewable energy.

“ Thus, young people can generate income, respond to local needs and contribute to a greener economy”, he said.

According to Mary Eagleton, the partnership will allow combining Unicef's experience in health, nutrition, education and community mobilization with the work developed in the conservation of biodiversity and development of the park's neighbouring communities by the Gorongosa project, one of the most emblematic conservation areas, located in central Mozambique.

“ It is a partnership where each partner brings their skills, techniques and finances to the populations near Gorongosa National Park,” he said, stressing that the memorandum is not based on a logic of financing between institutions, but on the combination of capabilities to increase the impact of interventions.

For the president of the Gorongosa Restoration Project, Aurora Malene, environmental preservation will only be sustainable if it is accompanied by investment in people.

She argued that young people in local communities are the future guardians of the country's natural heritage: “They will carry with them the legacy of protecting that natural treasure that belongs to them, belongs to each one of us.”.

The project's president added that the partnership arises at a stage where the sustainability of the results achieved depends on a continued commitment to education and training of new generations, also highlighting digitization as one of the strategic components of cooperation.

“ If we can, together, make a qualitative leap, leading those children and those young people to the experience of digitization, why not embrace this?” he said.

The memorandum has an initial validity of two years and covers three priority areas: child education and protection, health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, and also environment, climate and youth.

The Gorongosa Restoration Project results from a partnership between the Mozambican Government and the founding of the American philanthropist Greg Carr. In 2008, the foundation signed a park management agreement for 20 years, later extended for another 25 years in 2018.

Throughout this period, the number of large animals increased from about 10,000 to over 110,000, while conservation projects began to include initiatives in areas such as sustainable agriculture, coffee and honey production, education and support for neighboring populations.

Located in the district of Gorongosa, in Sofala province, next to the southern border of the Great African Rift Valley, the park is considered one of Mozambique's main natural reserves and one of the country's most reputed nature tourism destinations.