During the months of May and June 2023, there was held a face-to-face course in the city of Maputo, and later its online version, entitled "Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in the Context of Climate Emergency". This course is part of a collaboration between medicusmundi, Fórum Mulher and Alliance for Health, and was developed and taught by Professor Teresa Cunha, with the technical and pedagogical support of our colleague Djamila Andrade.
"What we learn here interests us much more because we work with each woman on a daily basis and we know that it she is who works the land."
The course was developed and thought in the context of global climate changes and the impact they have on women. The collected evidence and several ideas were discussed, including the idea that environmental and ecological disasters are not natural disasters, but rather caused by human activities within the framework of a development model that is based on the destruction of ecosystems and biodiversity. A model that reinforces social inequalities and that could not be sustained without the unpaid work of the majority of women in the world. All these processes of exploitation and oppression, both of nature and of people, are the root causes of climate change. The design of this course was based on the methodology of Feminist Popular Education, which is a social and educational intervention with a political horizon: the democratic and inclusive transformation of our lives and our society.
The course lasted 60 hours and consisted of 5 modules: 1) Creation of a learning community; 2) Paths of empowerment of women; 3) Climatic emergencies: causes and consequences; 4) Methodologies sensitive to violence and conflict; 5) Evaluate the process and results.
The face-to-face course was held in the city of Maputo for 5 days, with 14 women and 1 man as participatants. The online course was carried out for 6 weeks and had the participation of 6 women and 3 men, from different provinces of Mozambique.
The course is available for free on the online platform of the School of Health Activism (Alliance for Health), where all resources/materials can be accessed: https://escola.aliancaparasaude.org/course/view.php?id=67
“What we learn here interests us much more because we work with each woman on a daily basis and we know that it she is who works the land. That is why we are very interested in this topic that we have come to learn about. When we leave here, we are going to replicate this in our organizations and teach women how to protect themselves in case of weather disasters.”
Cidália Domingos - Associação AVVD (Association of Victims of Domestic Violence)
This course was carried out within the scope of the project "Contribute to the defense, guarantee and exercise of a life free of violence for the women of Maputo - Phase 3", financed by the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD).