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- G20 Annual Report Book - 2004:
- Relatório Anual da Pobreza 2004 - Versão Final:
- Relatório Anual da Pobreza 2004 - O Combate às Causas da Pobreza - Versão Apresentada ao 2º Painel do Observatório da Pobreza em Moçambique:
- O G20 e o Relatório Anual da Pobreza (Publicado no Jornal Notícias, dia 2 de Março de 2004):
RELATÓRIO ANUAL DA POBREZA
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THE ROLE OF CRUZEIRO DO SUL IN THE DYNAMICS OF THE G20 AT NATIONAL LEVEL AND IN THE PROVINCE OF NAMPULA
1. National Level
In 1996 the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund launched the HIPC initiative as a response to the international movement to cancel the external debt of the poorest countries of the world. The objective of the HIPC initiative was to cancel part of the debt of these countries. Many members of the donors community adhered to the initiative and Mozambique external debt lowered from US$ 5,6 billions to US$ 750 millions. The condition to obtain the cancellation of the debt was to have a poverty reduction national programme.
It was in this context that the Mozambican Government elaborated the Action Plan for the Reduction of the Absolute Poverty (PARPA). In the sequence of the PARPA and similarly to what was happening in other countries, some civil society organizations requested the constitution of the Poverty Observatory with the objective of facilitating the interaction between the civil society and the government for the reduction of poverty. The Mozambican Government responded positively to the request and created a national Poverty Observatory which counts with an Opinion Board of 60 members, of which 20 belong to the Government, 20 to the international community and the 20 to the civil society.
The selection of the representatives of the civil society was carried out by the civil society itself in coordination with the government, and the following institutions were identified:
4 religious confessions (CE, CIM, CCM, MIM);
2 workers’ unions (OTM-CS and CONSILIMO);
3 private sector associations (trade association, industry association and CTA);
6 networks (UNAC, GMD, Link, Teia, Forum Mulher and Forum Terra);
4 specialized NGOs (FDC, Kulima, ORAM and Kindlimuka);
1 scientific association (Cruzeiro do Sul – Research Institute for Development).
This group of organizations, the Group of 20 (G20), thought that the Poverty Observatory would fulfil its function only if the interaction process was as participative as possible. In order to guarantee the effective participation of the citizens, in 2004 the G20 decided to elaborate an Annual Poverty Report (RAP) to be presented for discussion at the national Poverty Observatory. Due to the close links developed with civil society’s organizations and other private companies committed to poverty reduction in the country, Cruzeiro do Sul was selected as coordinator of the G20.
The objectives of the RAP were:
To identify the evolution of people’s perception of poverty;
To evaluate the impact of the PARPA closer to the communities;
To verify the growth and distribution of national wealth through the application to aggregate data of pro-poor indicators; and
To establish an open dialogue among the different stakeholders about the causes of poverty in Mozambique, and ways to overcome it.
The process of elaboration of the RAP comprised five phases, namely: i) preparation phase, ii) data gathering, iii) data processing, iv) final editing and distribution, v) national seminar.
During this first phase Cruzeiro do Sul coordinated the work of design of the research, elaboration of the questionnaires, and general understanding of the project within the G20. The questionnaires were applied by teams constituted in each province under the supervision of one of the organization member of the G20. During the second phase Cruzeiro do Sul was responsible for organizing the codification and digitalization of the data gathered using specific software for statistical analysis. The analysis of the data was shared by the members of the G20 that were responsible for the elaboration of the different chapters of the RAP. At that stage 10 seminars at provincial level were organized to present the data processed and stimulate a reflection on the picture by them provided. The work of Cruzeiro do Sul during that phase was to:
Ensure the coordination and collaboration between the members of the G20;
Provide significant insights for the analysis of the data;
Provide an adequate theoretical framework ;
Harmonize of the single chapters;
Finalize the first draft of the report.
In May 2004 Cruzeiro do Sul coordinated the organization of a national seminar aimed at preparing the participation of the civil society to the 2º Panel of the Poverty Observatory. As a result of the seminar, seven proposals were drafted to be presented to the panel. All the proposals took into account the Mozambican Agenda 2025. After the presentation of the RAP to the Poverty Observatory, a second national seminar of the civil society was organized to reflect on the activities implemented, discuss the follow up of the activities, the structure and representativity of the G20. The following was agreed:
On the activities
The Mozambican civil society will communicate or interact in the Poverty Observatory through a RAP;
The civil society organizations should provide accompaniment to the seven proposals included in the 2004 RAP;
The 2005 RAP should report on the monitoring of the seven proposals included in the 2004 RAP, as well as focus on the PARPA revision and on the process at the provincial level;
The civil society organizations should include in their working agenda the issues of the Poverty Observatory, monitoring of poverty and accompaniment of the PARPA.
On the structure and representativity
The G20 should not be institutionalized;
The present structure of the G20 should be maintained;
The civil society organizations should encourage the creation of provincial G20 that adopted a similar structure and modus operandi of the national G20;
Each year the G20 can have a different dynamic, the organizations member of the G20 rotate and the composition of the group will be discussed during a plenary of the Poverty Observatory. The non participation of an organization in the Observatory does not exclude it from the process as the plenary session of the Observatory is just a step of the whole process; and
Inform/Disseminate about the “G20 Process” at different levels and among the different actors in order to involve the civil society as much as possible.
2. Provincial level
2.1 Civil Society
In the ambit of the “Absolute poverty reduction investigation programme in north Mozambique” financed by the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Cruzeiro do Sul in 2003 elaborated a Guideline for setting up a monitoring and evaluation system of change in poverty in the northern region of Mozambique, which was followed by the organization in Nampula of a training course for civil society organizations that work at provincial and district level. The organizations that took part in the training course began a process of dissemination at local level aimed at creating the District Poverty Monitoring and Evaluation Units (M&A Units). The creation of the M&E Units has been coordinated by the Nampula delegation of the Konrad Adenauer Research Centre (CEPKA) to which Cruzeiro do Sul has provided technical and financial support.
In 2004 Cruzeiro do Sul coordinated the gathering of the data for the RAP in the provinces of Nampula, Cabo Delgado and Niassa for which it counted with the presence in the field of the CEPKA delegation that hosted a junior member for a period of two months.
In the sequence of the work carried out by the national G20, the organizations of the civil society based in Nampula decided to set up a provincial G20, coordinated by CEPKA. Cruzeiro do Sul participated in the first meeting of the G20 which counted with the presence of NGOs, the academic community, some private companies and representatives of religious confessions. The provincial G20 established itself with the objective of providing monitoring and accompaniment of the activities currently being undertaken at provincial level to eradicate poverty. The provincial G20 continued to support the creation of the District M&E Units and organized 21 seminars at district level to disseminate the 2004 RAP.
2.2 Government
Parallel to the activities carried out by the civil society, in 2004 the provincial Government promoted the establishment of the provincial Poverty Observatory, which in Nampula adopted the designation of Development Observatory. The initiative was coordinated by the Nampula Coordination Unit for Integrated Development (UCODIN) and Cruzeiro do Sul and CEPKA (as coordinator of the G20) were involved in the preparation and creation of the Observatory.
The objective of the Development Observatory is to accompany and coordinate the process of monitoring and evaluation of the Nampula Strategic Plan (PEN). The PEN monitoring and evaluation system foresees a permanent evaluation of the intervention of the different actors and their environment in relation to the objectives, activities and means projected. As such, the Development Observatory functions as a provincial forum of consultation about the M&E of the activities that concur to the promotion of development and the fight against poverty. Similarly to the national Observatory, the provincial Observatory brings together the government, the international partners and the social and economic agents (congregated in the provincial G20).
The Provincial Observatory is comprised of two organs, an ad-hoc Opinion Board and a permanent Technical Secretariat represented by the UCODIN.
The civil society organizations that integrate the Development Observatory consider it important to deepen participative democracy through the dinamization of the Consultations Councils and agree that the objective of these Councils should be the mobilization and the participation in the systematic analysis of the poverty situation and the identification of concrete actions to fight against the causes of poverty at local level. For this reason in 2005 the M&E Units set up in the districts by the civil society began to be integrated in the Councils in order to have only one representative structure at local level which encloses all the different actors.
During the work carried out by Cruzeiro do Sul in the province of Nampula it was possible to observe that in the Consultation Councils the traditional and religious authorities are normally well represented, but that the same does not happen with the local socio economic agents. As such, it is hoped that the integration of the M&E Units in the Councils will bring about new dynamics in the fight against the causes of poverty.
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A note on Participation and Community Consultation in District Planning
The law nº 8/2003 of 19th of May establishes the principles and norms of organization, competence and functioning of the Local Organs of the State at the level of the province, the district, the administrative post and the locality. The law establishes that the district government and the district Administrator are responsible for the participation of the community, the community authorities and the citizens in the solution of their problems and that the working methodology to promote the relationship between the Local Organs of the State and the community is the auscultation (Decree 15/2000, article 2, nº 2). The first community interlocutor is the community authority, that is the traditional leaders, and the second interlocutor is the Consultation Council, which is the most important institution of dialogue between the Local Organs of the State and the civil society at local level. All the local forums or community committees of the civil society must resolve their problems or express their preoccupations and need within the Consultation Councils.
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FLUXOGRAM OF THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE GOVERNMENT IN THE POVERTY M&A
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