The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, Micheál Martin, announced his country’s readiness to support the training of Mozambican military personnel and provide non-lethal material to combat terrorism in Cabo Delgado.
“Ireland is committed to supporting Mozambique in terms of military training for the protection of civilians and providing support for this, particularly non-lethal support,” he said.
Speaking after a meeting in Maputo on Wednesday, 19 July, with the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, the minister praised the conduct and conclusion, last June, of the Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) process agreed between the Government and the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), which also has the financial and technical support of the Irish Government.
“Ireland celebrates 25 years of the peace process this year and, given our experience, we understand the action and pay tribute to the President for his work,” he said.
In terms of partnerships with Mozambique, Mr Martin said that Ireland has a long-standing relationship with the authorities in the provinces of Inhambane and Niassa, where projects related to the water supply network, food production systems, fishing, aquaculture, ecotourism and agriculture have already been implemented.
In the field of education, the leader emphasised the importance of investing in vocational training for young people, adding that Ireland is available to support this area.
“It is important to invest in education, especially in training young people for the world of work. Ireland has been around for many years and throughout our history we have had challenges in terms of employment. Now we are in a good position, but it is because in previous decades we invested in education,” he emphasised.
Micheál Martin is in Mozambique since today (19), where he will closely monitor the development of projects funded by Ireland in the provinces of Inhambane and Niassa.
