Graça Machel participated, on Saturday, in Tarrafal de Santiago, in a conversation with the head of the government about development issues, education, gender equality, and the fight against poverty, and today she was received by the President of the Republic, José Maria Neves.

The former wife of Samora Machel, and widow of the historical South African leader Nelson Mandela, is also a special guest of the Pedro Pires Institute for Leadership (IPP) to talk this afternoon about the challenges of female leadership.

The event takes place today, the day of Amílcar Cabral's birth, in 1924, and if he were alive he would be 98 years old (he was assassinated on January 20, 1973).

Urged to comment on the armed conflict in the north of her country, she said that it is not only the issue of insurgency, but also how resources should be managed.

"With or without insurgency it is necessary to manage the resources with full and complete awareness that these resources are to serve each and every Mozambican," he argued, considering that mechanisms are needed to allow all Mozambicans to benefit from the resources.

Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas, but has been terrorized since 2017 by armed violence, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The insurgency has led to a military response since a year ago by forces from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near gas projects, but leading to a new wave of attacks in other areas, closer to Pemba, the provincial capital, and in Nampula province.

There are about 800,000 internally displaced people due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and about 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project. (Lusa/RTP)