Projects
PDHL MOZAMBIQUE, 1999 - 2003
The UN Interagen (Programa de Desenvolvimento Humano a Nivel Local - Human Development Program at the Local Level), launched in March 1999 and lasted until 2003, is an Italian financed program conceived within the framework of the Five-Year Plan of the Mozambican Government and, more specifically, as part of its Socio-Economic Plan.
Working in support of the Mozambican Government, as well as institutions and representatives from civil society, the main objectives of the PDHL/MOZ are to:
- support the consolidation of the peace-process in Mozambique, as well as the process of national reconciliation and reconstruction;
- promote “social development”, as it is conceived in the final Memorandum of the Social Summit in Copenhagen, March 1995;
- promote and enhance the coordination and efficiency of the different interventions of national and international technical cooperation partners in the project areas of PDHL/MOZ.
ILS LEDA supported the creation of three LEDAs, including ADEL Sofala (Agência de Desenvolvimento Económico Local) in October 2000 and ADEM Manica (Agência de Desenvolvimento Económico de Manica) in November 2000, and Maputo province opened in October 2001.
There are several reasons why the local and national actors of Mozambique choose the LEDAs or Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) as the most suitable implementation mechanism for the LED component of the PDHL:
- LEDAs make effective use of local resources;
- LEDAs represent a new element in the institutional landscape of Mozambique, providing an effective response to the need to decentralize the Mozambican economy and
- LEDAs enjoy a relatively high degree of legitimacy and trust from the local population because they are composed of, and reflect, the experiences of local stakeholders and are not imposed from the “top-down”;
- LEDAs contribute to conflict resolution and prevention through the creation of mechanisms for social dialogue and participation;
- LEDAs are professional organizations that are specialized in promoting and supporting income-generating projects. This enables them to tackle development issues more efficiently.
In particular the LEDAs in Mozambique were expected to be involved in:
- promoting the diversification of the economic activities in the province;
- the delivery of locally-based comprehensive support to potential or existing micro and small enterprises;
- the introduction of new management techniques and new technologies;
- the provision of export promotion services;
- the improvement of quality and productivity of the local agricultural production;
- the introduction of new forms of organization of the production (cooperatives; clusters, franchise, etc.);
- channelling external resources into productive investments;
- the delivery of a wide range of information services (i.e. the creation of databases regarding markets, machinery, tools, training possibilities, etc.);
- the provision of consultancy services to facilitate guidance and assistance in formulating and selecting “bankable” projects;
- the stimulation and support of a “social dialogue” at the local level, in particular the between the public and private sector;
- the promotion of dialogue between local, national and international level in matters of economic development.
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