Political, social and economic stability make the realisation of national and regional efforts aimed at strengthening institutions, the provision of quality gender-sensitive public services and the promotion, protection and guarantee of human rights possible.The failure of States – their citizens, their institutions and their power relations – to devise more inclusive policies and strong institutions that meet the most basic needs of the people, namely: health, education, water and sanitation, mobility, security, employment and decent work, housing and agriculture, amongst others, especially for women and youth, generates conflicts that lead to social upheavals that further aggravate instability and poverty and external dependence, despite the abundance of natural resources, the poor governance of which increasingly enriches the wealthier citizens and multinationals and leaves behind most of the population. According to the INE 2017, women, children and youth form the bottom of the pyramid in Mozambique.
With the intense impact of climate change, #COVID-19 and escalation of terrorist attacks in #CaboDelgado, where youth are joining the wrongdoers, it is clear that the role of the religious community has been missing.
Tweet
The participation and inclusion of young people and women in policy-making, policy dialogue, planning and management of public affairs, through (but not only) the strengthening of formal and informal spaces for dialogue and decision-making, where the vast majority of citizens in situations of exclusion have an active voice in local and national development, are essential.
Since reaching and preserving peace is a real priority for countries, its attainment appears urgent and everyone has a role to play – governments, private sector actors, civil society, religious people, scholars – as an individual and collective responsibility, in a struggle where the silence of the just may be the greatest crime that can be committed, perhaps even greater than those who threaten or compromise peace.
It is an almost indisputable fact that peace goes beyond the absence of armed conflicts or the sound of guns. However, it is also a fact that the silence, conformism and the indifference of those who swore to give their blood and sweat to protect the people who have been wrongly treated is even more deafening and shocking and worse than the war itself.
The Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique makes room for developing a civic spirit, practising one’s faith and participating in associations. It also considers the participation of all citizens in the decision-making spaces and processes leading to inclusive and sustainable development of Mozambique as a democratic State based on the rule of law to be crucial. The openness made possible by the constitutional law and other specific legislation has led to the creation of associations, civil society platforms, political parties, including organisations of a religious nature and their consequent crucial role in equitable socio-economic development, defending civic, political, ethical and moral values and human rights.
The Mandate
It is clearly evident that civil society organisations and religious communities, knowing and accepting their role, are indispensable in the establishment of the civic spirit (empowerment of citizens and political actors); the prevention, management and mitigation of conflicts, disasters and pandemics, the promotion of dialogue, unity, social cohesion and maintenance of peace, including in the policy-making process of more inclusive and gender sensitive public policies, which result in more and better public services, some of which, such as health, education, water and sanitation, housing and employment, are, in the context of Cabo Delgado province (similarly to the other provinces), the most required services and which most affect the youth and women.
From the Written Page to the Pages We Lost
The religious communities or denominations in Mozambique, many of which are also humanitarian, have played an extremely crucial role in developing and raising awareness of Africanness and Mozambicanness, and have contributed to the formation of part of the minds that created and united the most important liberation movements in Mozambique that led the country to National Independence. Through the winding roads that led the belligerent parties (in a 16-year war) to the negotiating table in search of a peace that everyone still wishes to be real, the dialogue promoted and brokered by religious denominations was also crucial. Religious communities continue to play a unique role in humanitarian assistance to displaced families and those affected by natural disasters, the armed conflict in the centre of the country and terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado (affecting more than 700,000 people), including in the prevention and mitigation of the impact of COVID-19, and the prevention, mitigation and management of conflicts prior to, during and post-elections.
However, judging by the intensity of the impact of climate change, COVID-19 and the renewed outbreak or escalation of terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, where every day the youth are joining the ranks of the wrongdoers, it is clear that at some point the role of the religious community has been missing.
Studies show that discriminatory public policies, where the interests of the bulk of the population living in poverty (youth and women) have not been included increasing social inequalities and poverty, increasingly intense the further north one moves (where the country’s largest natural resources are concentrated), make the province more vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters and COVID-19. This is, given the low quality of infrastructure and public services and lack of awareness – and the assimilation of the youth by terrorists, after their expectations of better living conditions and their trust in political agents and institutions have been dashed.
If on the one hand – quoting the Holy Bible, the sacred book of the Christian religion – the book of Isaiah chapter 10, verse 10, which says: “Woe to those who make unjust laws, who write oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and the oppressed of justice, making widows their prey and robbing orphans! ” , on the other hand, quoting Binicheski (2010), “(…) Islam has granted humanity an ideal code of human rights. Such rights are intended to confer honour and dignity on humanity by eliminating oppression and injustice. (…) It is everyone’s right and obligation to uphold the rights of any person and the community at large (hisbah). ”
For years, religious denominations and their networks have stood idly by, taking a distant position, relegating the policy-making processes to political and technocratic players, giving rise to policies that are hardly or not at all responsive to the real needs of communities. Faced with these discriminatory policies, few religious communities stand up in unison, repudiating such policies, monitoring or advocating for their improvement, clearly going against their mandate according to the Bible and the Koran, but actively mobilising to mitigate their impact.
Rewriting the Page
What matters is that, as indispensable actors in the achievement and maintenance of real peace, through inclusive dialogue and the promotion of a collective awareness of their role in social construction and equitable and sustainable development, they responsibly assume their obligations. These may include empowering and advocating for greater participation of youth and women at the top of governance, strengthening institutions that offer spaces for dialogue and decision-making where the voice of the most needy is heard with their priorities valued and active participation in policy-making when it comes to gender and human rights.
In view of the terrorism problems that the Mozambican nation is facing, with their epicentre in the province of Cabo Delgado, religious communities must obviously continue to help displaced communities, but also give the youth a new perspective of a more promising future, where no one is left behind. This is urgent to prevent violence from spreading to other parts of the country. Religious denominations are required to strengthen their relations, inter-religious dialogue, promotion of unity and social cohesion. With regard to networking, religious communities must continue to advocate for transparent, inclusive and sustainable natural resource governance that benefits local communities.
Obviously, very specific strategies will have to be jointly drawn up so that a formula can be found that fits the situation perfectly. The most important thing is that each player is an active element of that formula in order to make it functional in the search for a solution to the problems that affect us today and future generations.
Emmerson Ubisse is the Provincial Delegate of the Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM), in Cabo Delgado.
