A total of 250,000 women, including widows from the political-military conflict in the center of the country, will benefit from income-generating projects to improve their livelihoods, Italy's ambassador said Thursday.

The initiative, part of the Local Development for the Consolidation of Peace in Mozambique (Delpaz) program, launched this Thursday, and which will reach 500,000 beneficiaries in rural communities in the provinces of Sofala, Manica, and Tete, aims to provide "decent quality of life" and eliminate social exclusion in areas devastated by the conflict.

"We are going to offer our experience to execute this component in the Delpaz project", stressed the Italian ambassador in Maputo, Gianni Bardini, who will develop an agro-food project for women.

"If the person feels reintegrated and has a dignified life expectancy, peace will surely be achieved," argued Gianni Bardini, insisting that development conditions must be guaranteed, with employment for women and youth, if peace is to be lasting.

For his part, European Union Ambassador António Sánchez-Benedito, who considered Mozambique a priority country in the EU's vision for stability, said it was crucial now to "put focus on the population" affected by the conflict, for their development, allocating basic services and improving local governance.

"This integrated vision of the European Union for development is to improve living conditions, especially with a focus on young people, women, and the most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations," said Antonio Sánchez-Benedito.

The European Union and the Mozambican Government launched this Thursday in Gondola, district of Manica province, central Mozambique, the Local Development for Peace Consolidation (Delpaz) project, a four-year, 25 million euro initiative.

The project aims to "create conditions" for pacification by funding income-generating activities, improving governance at the district level, and supporting war-affected communities in the center of the country.

In addition to the European Union, which will finance the Delpaz project, the initiative is supported by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the Austrian Development Agency, and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.

The initiative is part of the European Union's support for the implementation of the Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement, signed in August 2019 between the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, and the leader of the Mozambique National Resistance (Renamo, opposition), Ossufo Momade.

The Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement provides, among other things, for the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) of the Renamo armed wing, and has already covered more than 2,600 guerrillas, out of a total of 5,000 planned members.

The understanding was the third between the government of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) and Renamo, the main opposition party. All three were signed following cycles of armed violence between the two parties, which mainly affected the center of the country.

Lusa Agency