Stories from Quick Reads and Mozambique
Three Cases that Show Social Networks Are Helping Hold Mozambique's Government Accountable
In spite of the fact that in Mozambique, only 4.3% of the population has access to the Internet, the citizen reporter perspective is valid and useful.
The Africanized Experience of Lisbon
The media and racial stereotypes [pt], through the perspective and experience of two specialists in the area of the study of race, both Afroportuguese, born in Lisbon, Portugal. is the topic of a new podcast. An interview with Grada Kilomba, academic of Santomean origin at the Humboldt University Berlin, translated into...
Draft Penal Code in Violation of Women and Children's Rights
This week, the Mozambican NGO Fórum Mulher (Women's Forum) organized a march in protest of a change to the penal code that would threaten human rights. A group of civil society organizations delivered a note on February 24, 2014 denouncing violations of the rights of women, children and sexual minorities...
Mozambique's LGBT Community: Tell Your Story
Lambda, the Mozambican Association for the Defense of Sexual Minorities, invites [pt] adult members of the LGBT community to participate in a short documentary. “Your story in the first person” is the title of this film project which aims at “documenting our trajectories of self-acceptance, our battles and conquests as LGBT people in...
Understanding Human Rights in Portuguese-Speaking Countries
[All links lead to Portuguese language pages, except where otherwise stated] The Portuguese language version of the educational manual for human rights “Understanding Human Rights” is available online. The website provides the complete manual in pdf format or divided into chapters, as well as training material, bibliographical references and institutional information specifically aimed at...
“Underground” Newspaper Launched in Mozambique
A new “underground” newspaper called “Vigilant Citizen”, launched in Mozambique on the eve of elections, is being shared in .PDF by the blog Moçambique para Todos [pt]. Its cover carries the iconic image of protesters with the poster “Who keeps voting for these guys?”
PHOTOS: Rally of Mozambique's Main Opposition Party Attacked by Riot Police
The final mayoral campaign rally of opposition party MDM in Beira ended with three people killed and several injured – the injured included the candidate's own son – following an attack by riot police who used tear gas grenades and shot bullets to the air. When the tumult began, incumbent...
Researcher to Mozambique's President: “You Are Out of Control”
An open letter [pt] by Mozambican well-known economist and researcher Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco begins “Mr. President, you are out of control.” The letter frontally questions the credibility of President Guebuza in the current context of political and military tension in the country, followed by a strange rash of kidnapping. The researcher describes...
Online Campaign for Peace in Mozambique
The blog Mozmaniacos [pt] has launched an online campaign for peace in Mozambique, after recent threats to over 20 years of peace. With the hashtag #MozQuerPaz (#MozWantsPeace), Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram users are starting to contribute their photos and personalized messages to the effort.
Re-Imagining Lusophony and Decolonizing the Mind
The Fourth International Congress in Cultural Studies – Colonialisms, Post-colonialisms and Lusophonies has a call for paper submissions open until October 15, 2013 November 15, 2013 [deadline has been extended]: To demystify, to dehierarchize, to establish a policy of difference, to allow a multiplicity of voices, to constitute so many projects of possible modernities/rationalities...
Mozambique women's basketball reaches new heights
Following a thrilling victory in the quarterfinals (see our coverage), last night the Mozambican women's basketball team won a place in the Afrobasket Finals tonight against reigning champions Angola. With yet another comeback-style victory over Cameroon in the semifinals, they are also guaranteed a place in the World Championships, and...
A Positive Example of Community Farming in Mozambique
A positive example of a farming, savings and literacy community project in Mozambique was highlighted in the blog of the NGO Justiça Ambiental (Environmental Justice) following their visit to the community of Nacoma, about 83 km from the northern city of Nampula last July. Justiça Ambiental learned about the association's good practices...
Hackathon Mozambique Offers Design Contest
Hackathon Mozambique launched a graphic design contest [pt] for the upcoming third civic hackathon, and the deadline for submissions is already near: September 14, 2013. The event, sponsored by Mozambique's Ministry of Science and Technology with the support of Sweden and Finland, will take place in early December and is being organized in an open group...
Back from Germany, Workers Demand Promised Wages in Mozambique
Every Wednesday, dozens of Mozambican citizens march in the main streets of the capital city, Maputo, wearing German flags or raising them in their hands. They are called ‘Magermans’, meaning those who returned from Germany. For more than 20 years they have been protesting for outstanding wage claims from the...
Mozambique: Tax Justice Campaign
Between 2003 and 2011, tax incentives given by the Mozambican government to mega-projects in the country have cost around 163,701,400 US dollars each year to the public coffers, Action Aid Mozambique reports on its recently launched Tax Justice campaign [pt].
Mozambique's First Civic Hackathons
Mozambique's Ministry of Science and Technology is sponsoring the country's first civic hackathons, with the support of Sweden and Finland. The second, slated for the end of June, will focus on mobile apps in natural disaster management and flooding scenarios, frequent in the country. First prize is worth €2,000.
Mozambique: Medical professionals end unsuccessful strike
After striking for 27 days, Mozambique's medical professionals announced the end of their collective protest over inadequate compensation, without any concession from government. The strikers claimed they wanted to end the suffering of the nation's people. On @Verdade's Facebook page, readers expressed their frustration with the situation, speculating about how...
President of Mozambique's Medical Association Under Arrest
After a week-long strike by medical professionals in Mozambique, Dr. Jorge Arroz, the President of Associação Médica de Moçambique, was arrested on Sunday night, May 26, 2013, under accusation of “sedition” (incitement of discontent or rebellion against a government). On Twitter and Facebook, @verdademz, @canal_moz and other netizens report.
Mozambique Mining Protest Ends in Arrests
Three brickmakers who had been arrested by the Mozambican Police while protesting peacefully with hundreds of people “at the gates of Brazilian mining giant Vale”, in Moatize on May 14, 2013, have been set free and are waiting for the verdict, NGO Justiça Ambiental informs denouncing acts of intimidation. The resettled population has been protesting...
Mozambique: Medical Professionals Announce Strike
Medical professionals in Mozambique have announced they will strike. They consider that they were “humiliated, insulted and disdained” in their last meeting with government. This current strike follows a strike earlier this year by doctors. The video announcement is available with subtitles in English, and a number of languages.
Mozambique Activist Withdraws Candidacy
Lack of transparency and professionalism when choosing candidates, besides a tendency to determine in advance who will take the institution's positions. Those were the reasons given by the human rights activist, Benilde Nhalivilo, to give up candidacy for a seat on the National Elections Commission of Mozambique[pt], a body responsible...