The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden is evaluating the resumption of funding to the project Nature-Based Solutions to Build Resilience of Coastal Communities in Mozambique (CRCC). The support had been interrupted due to the cancellation of the agreement with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the institution that was financially managing the project.
This fact was revealed by the Swedish Ambassador, Mette Sunnergren, in an audience granted recently by the Minister of Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries, Lídia Cardoso, in which aspects related to cooperation between the two countries were addressed.
Quoted by Notícias, the diplomat also highlighted the support in the implementation of Agenda 2030 on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular number 14, which allowed Mozambique’s participation in the first United Nations Conference on Oceans, held in New York in 2017.
This event also allowed Mozambique to organize the 2nd Edition of the “Crescendo Azul” Conference, to be held in 2021, in Vilankulo, Inhambane Province, whose results may contribute to our country’s participation in the second Oceans Conference, to be held in June in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.
Mette Sunnergren also presented Sweden’s new cooperation strategy, having highlighted the marine environment and energy pillar, as well as the promotion of the integration of gender issues in the development of the blue economy.
For her part, Lídia Cardoso reiterated the openness of the sector she heads to collaborate with the Swedish government in strengthening institutional coordination, in the political and legislative reform on the sea and in the implementation of the Maritime Spatial Planning Plan (POEM), among the various uses of the sea.
The minister pointed out that aquaculture remains Mozambique’s bet to reduce the pressure on marine resources and provide alternative for coastal communities to improve their income and food and nutritional security.