Mozambican Civil Society Within: - UNICEF Mozambique - Home page

Mozambican Civil Society Within: Evaluation, Challenges, Opportunities and Action
Historical Background of Mozambican Society
The pre- and post-independence history of Mozambique has produced a context where civil
society felt and feels that its capacity and ability to exercise its rights and duties in defence of
citizens is being contested.
There is little pre-colonial literature on associativism in African societies in the territory that
became Mozambique, although there were state forms that directly or indirectly “forced” the
creation of non-profit associations. Literature on associativism during the colonial period sees
it in a context of opposition to the Portuguese colonial regime and influenced by the international
context of, for example, pan-africanist ideals, negritude and revolutionary socialism.
Post-independence literature tried to address associative practice not just in the context of
defending group interests, but also as a way of tackling disasters caused by nature and those
caused by people. Literature that analyses the impact of associations argues that there was a
controversial impact, positive and negative, depending on the authors’ indicators and approaches.
Until the mid 80s there is little Mozambican post-independence literature on associativism
because the single party system that existed in Mozambique made it difficult to establish
boundaries, confounded the state with the party and society in general, and prohibited any form
of association outside the formal vehicles of the Mozambican State. According to Yussuf Adam
and Humberto Coimbra (1997) Frelimo and the state saw themselves as the only legitimate
representatives of the people and the few agencies that existed had to submit to their control
(Adam and Coimbra, 1997: 83; Newitt, 1997: 467).
Before 1984 there were few associations in Mozambique. References to non-governmental
organizations include the Mozambique Red Cross, the General Cooperative Union, Doctors
Without Borders and associations linked to the Frelimo party (OMM for example). The number
of NGOs started to rise following the introduction of freedom of association.
In 2003 the INE conducted a census of 4853 non-profit institutions in Mozambique. Over 70% of
these associations operated in just five provinces, while less than 30% were active in the
remaining six provinces. Most units were concentrated in Nampula province (19.5%), followed
by Gaza (14.6%), Inhambane (14%), Maputo city (12.9%) and Maputo province (9.5%). In the
remaining provinces the number was less than or equal to 6.1% (INE 2006: 43).
The state of Mozambican Civil Society
STRUCTURE
The analysis of the structure of civil society leads to the conclusion that this dimension is weak
in the various levels contemplated in the CSI: breadth, depth and diversity of citizen participation.
Virtually all the sub-dimensions show that the CSI structure is extremely weak.
Part of the weakness in the structure of civil society is organizational and in the financial and
human resources available to CSOs. But another part, perhaps even more relevant than the
xxiv
Civil Society Index, Mozambique 2007