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Mozambican Civil Society Within: Evaluation, Challenges, Opportunities and Action
3.1.3.2. CSO leadership
Except for the high class or elite group, the other social groups have identical representation in
leadership functions. To some extent this differs from perceptions about the previous variable
on CSO representativity, specific interviews and the opinion of NAG members. For example,
the results of the INC07 suggest that the “women” group is a little under-represented in both
CSOs and in leadership positions in society in general, contrary to the image provided by other
sources on the political participation of women. 10
Like the CINSFLU2006 the INC07 also reveals under-representation of females compared to
males. In the first case, the CINSFLU2006 showed that in 2003 CSOs had 63% men compared
to 37% women. INC07 has an even larger imbalance, with 74% men compared to only 26%
women.
So whereas most answers in some public opinion surveys indicate that women are relatively
well represented in CSOs, including in leadership positions, other surveys are less conclusive.
This suggests that the issue of representativity in its various forms warrants more reflection,
especially with regard to the quality and practical effectiveness of the representativity of social
groups in CSO bodies.
3.1.3.3. Distribution of CSOs
The variable on the geographical distribution of CSOs has a curious result when compared
with factual data, for example the CINSFLU2006.
As shown in figure 3.1.3, the INC07 shows that most people (45%) believe that CSOs are
concentrated mainly in large cities or are mainly limited to urban areas (20%).
However, this common sense perception is contradicted by the facts provided by the
CINSFLU2006 and illustrated in Figure 3.1.4. This census, which had the benefit of statistically
representative coverage of the whole country, challenges two widespread but incorrect
perceptions: one related to the kind of CSO that predominates in Mozambique and the other
about the numerical representativity of urban centres.
10
As stated by METIER (2004:22), Mozambique has a certain reputation for women’s participation in the decision-making process at the highest level i.e. in Parliament, when
compared to other Southern African countries. METIER attributes their advantageous position in Mozambique to a tradition of fighting for equality since the fight for independence
in the 60s and 70s. But the perception of high indicators compared to countries in Southern Africa, reported for example in international human development reports (UNDP, 2006,
2007-2008), is analysed more or less critically depending on the approach used. For example, Osorio questions whether women’s plurality of political intervention at parliamentary
level has produced a sufficiently advantageous discourse for women in terms of democratization and changes in social gender relations (Osorio, 2007, http://www.wlsa.org.mz/
?target=Tex Eleicoes2007).
Civil Society Index, Mozambique 2007
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