Mozambique

Through its groundbreaking Inform Women, Transform Lives campaign, The Carter Center partners with city leaders worldwide to raise awareness about women’s right to access information and to help cities reach women with valuable information and essential municipal services. 

Access to this information empowers women with a stronger voice, enabling them to participate in public life, utilize public services, and make more informed decisions for themselves, their families, and their communities. In Mozambique, the project has partnered with the city of Maputo.

How It Started

The National Elections Commission of Mozambique invited The Carter Center to observe the December 1999 elections – the country’s second after its transition from civil war.

Our Work and Methods

• The Carter Center sent 13 observers to witness the voter registration process.
• Ten medium-term observers were deployed in October 1999, and a 50-person delegation co-led by former U.S. President Carter, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and former President Ketumile Masire of Botswana deployed around the three-day election.

Impacts

• Observers found that registration was well-managed and that voting was peaceful and orderly throughout the country. The Center publicly commended Mozambicans for their high turnout.
• The Carter Center found that some institutions established to deal with electoral complaints had not functioned effectively. The failure of the National Elections

Commission to address these issues undermined the potential effectiveness and credibility of the electoral institutions.

This project ended in 1999.

How It Started

Mozambique held its second multiparty municipal elections in 2003, following municipal elections in 1998 that were marred by a boycott by one major party, flawed electoral rolls, and voter turnout of less than 15%.

Our Work and Methods

• The Carter Center conducted a preelection assessment in 25 of 33 municipalities and deployed seven teams of observers on election day. They visited polls in 11 municipalities across six provinces and Maputo City.

Impacts

• Center observers found the elections to be generally well-conducted and peaceful but expressed concerns about low turnout, challenges with the voter register, and a problematic results tabulation process.
• Despite the irregularities, these elections showed a will to consolidate multiparty competition in Mozambique’s municipalities, with the participation of candidates from nine smaller parties and six civic groups in addition to the ruling party, FRELIMO, and the opposition militia party, RENAMO.

This project ended in 2003.

How It Started

The Carter Center was invited by the National Election Commission and welcomed by all major political parties to observe the Dec. 1-2 elections.

Our Work and Methods

• The Carter Center deployed nine long-term observers who visited more than 50 districts and all provinces in advance of election day.
• For election day, the Center deployed the full delegation of 60 observers across the country, co-led by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and former Benin President Nicéphore Soglo.

Impacts

• Observers reported a mostly calm preelection environment, although there were some isolated signs of intimidation.
• The delegation noted the generally peaceful environment and the genuine commitment of most Mozambicans to the legal electoral requirements but expressed concerns about irregularities during the provincial tabulation of results. Though these irregularities did not alter the overall outcome of the presidential election, they did undermine the credibility of Mozambique’s electoral authorities.

This project ended in 2004.

How It Started

On Sept. 5, 2014, a peace agreement was signed by the ruling party, FRELIMO, and the opposition militia party, RENAMO. Elections for presidential, national, and provincial assembly offices were scheduled for Oct. 15.

Our Work and Methods

• The Carter Center partnered with the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) to deploy a team of 87 election observers.

Impacts

The joint Carter Center-EISA mission concluded that the electoral campaign was conducted in a generally peaceful and tolerant atmosphere and that voting was orderly and peaceful.

• Some isolated security incidents were observed during counting. Although they were serious in nature, they were localized and did not affect the credibility of the process and its outcome.
• The mission found that the tabulation processes lacked clear and consistent procedures, which, in some instances, affected the transparency of the process.

This project ended in 2014. 

How It Started

The Carter Center initiated activities to broaden the role of civil society organizations in Mozambique democratic processes in 2003 and 2004.

Our Work and Methods

The Center focused on building the capacity of civil society, including:

• Providing technical assistance and training for domestic election observers,
• Fostering civic dialogue with Mozambique’s political parties
• Sharing experiences from previous Carter Center election observation missions.

Impacts

• The Center helped civil society conduct parallel vote tabulations in 10 of 33 municipalities in the 2003 local elections and another in 2004 for the presidential and legislative elections.
• Building the capacity of civil society ensures sustainability of gains made.

How It Started

 In 1998, the government of Mozambique asked the Carter Center’s Global Development Initiative (1993-2006) to support a national consensus-building initiative known as the Agenda 2025 National Vision and National Development Strategy Process.

Our Work and Methods

The Agenda 2025 process brought together Mozambicans from across the social and political spectrum to develop a shared, long-term vision and strategy for future development.

• Through the process, Mozambique identified policy options to inform the country’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, a short-term action plan required for foreign loans and grant aid from the international donor community.

Impacts

The Agenda 2025 vision and strategy process was completed in July 2003, and the final agenda was disseminated to the public and then unanimously approved by parliament in December 2003.

This project ended in 2006.

How It Started

Like many countries in Africa, Mozambique has long suffered from inadequate rainfall, which affects food production in the main agricultural areas of the country, the Central and Northern regions. In 1995, The Carter Center began working with Mozambique’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to increase food security.

Our Work and Methods

Led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug, a joint venture between The Carter Center and the Sasakawa Africa Association helped more than 8 million small-scale sub-Saharan African farmers improve agricultural production.

• The program provided farmers credit for fertilizers and seeds to grow test production plots.
• Crop diversification was implemented, expanding from the staple crops of maize and rice to include peanuts, cowpeas, beans, paprika, onions, potatoes, sesame, garlic, millet, cotton, and more.
• To promote development of a retail supply system – so that small-scale farmers had access to supplies previously available only to large commercial farmers – The Carter Center and partners created connections with major chemical companies and potential fertilizer suppliers.
• The project also focused on postharvest technologies, including improved methods for processing and storing.

Impacts

• After successful harvests, the participating farmers taught their neighbors about the new technologies and crops, creating a ripple effect to stimulate food self-sufficiency in the nation.
• Farmers were fully trained to use proper fertilizers on the new crops. During a 2001-2002 program in Nampula province, these efforts led to as much as triple crop yields.
• The government of Mozambique, encouraged by the Carter Center’s successes, increased its agricultural development budget from 3% allocated in 1999 to 6% in 2004.

The Carter Center ended its agricultural activities in Mozambique in 2005.