The Blue Economy Development Fund (ProAzul) has expanded the implementation of the Gender Action and Learning System (GALS) to new regions of the country, joining the communities in the districts of Pebane and Moma, Zambézia and Nampula provinces, respectively, which were covered by the pilot phase that began in July 2023.

The new areas now covered include the beneficiary districts of the programs financed by ProAzul in the provinces of Niassa, Tete and Cabo Delgado, including the districts to the north of Nampula province, in an effort that reinforces the institution's commitment to promoting gender equality and ensuring that men and women benefit equally from these investments.

To this end, the first seminar to be held in the district of Lago, in Niassa province, is taking place from March 31 until next Saturday, with the participation of 44 members (including 23 women and 17 men) from communities whose livelihoods come significantly from fishing on Lake Niassa and its value chain.

The action, received by the beneficiary communities with great enthusiasm, recognizing that this is an opportunity that will transform the way they think and act, aims to train the first community trainers (champions) who will be responsible for replicating the learning through the Peer Learning method.

The training sessions use specific tools from the GALS methodology, such as building gender balance trees, identifying challenges and actions, walking the vision and mapping relationships. In addition, a survey of social and gender indicators is being conducted to monitor the impacts of implementation and strengthen the inclusion of communities in the development process, as was done in the pilot districts.

Mário Quissico, the program's facilitator, reiterates that the aim is to ensure that, at the end of the training, the community champions are fully trained in applying the methodology and using its tools. He adds that the next stage will be Community Action, where the trainees will disseminate the knowledge they have acquired to other people, thus broadening the impact of the GALS approach in the communities.

The expansion of GALS is part of the Rural Resilience Project in Northern Mozambique (MozNorte), financed by the World Bank, as part of Component 1 (Strengthening capacity for gender-sensitive business development in the value chains supported by MaisPeixe Sustentável).

With this new implementation phase, ProAzul, FP reaffirms its commitment to promoting gender equity and social inclusion, ensuring that investments in the blue economy are accessible and benefit all members of coastal communities equally.