The Mozambican Youth Coalition Association announced on Tuesday that it has completed the training of the first 30 mentors of victims of terrorism, who will strengthen the response to gender-based violence in Mocímboa da Praia, Cabo Delgado.
“This programme is to [support] 15,000 young people, we are aware of the challenges that the youth layer faces, especially girls and young women who are victims of terrorism in this part of the country every day,” Farouk Simango, director of the non-profit youth organisation, which operates throughout the country in the area of sexual and reproductive health, told the media today.
The training is the result of an initiative by the Mozambican government, with technical and financial support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), as part of the Generation Biz Programme, to enable various social programmes and case management with humanitarian development and peace actors in that province, which has been affected over the last seven years by attacks by terrorist groups.
“In this mentoring methodology we use, each girl has to work with thirty girls from her community, girls who are in vulnerable situations,” said Farouk Simango.
According to the association, this training focussed on the district of Mocímboa da Praia, aims to give the mentors a “deeper and more practical understanding of the tools and approaches that can be incorporated into their work”, on topics such as reducing the risk of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), defining reporting channels, sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV/AIDS prevention, mental health and psychosocial support.
Since October 2017, the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion with attacks claimed by movements associated with the extremist group Islamic State.
The last major attack took place on 10 and 11 May on the district headquarters of Macomia, with around a hundred insurgents looting the town, causing several deaths and heavy fighting with the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces and Rwandan soldiers, who are supporting Mozambique in the fight against the rebels.
Since the beginning of August, different sources on the ground, including the local force, have reported intense clashes between the joint military mission and the insurgents in the forests of the Mucojo administrative post (Macomia), involving helicopters, armoured vehicles and heavily armed men, with reports of shootings in places considered to be hiding places for these groups.
