Until now, the focus of medicusmundi's interventions in the area of gender-based violence in the city of Maputo has been primarily to support the response capacity of public institutions so that the State can provide the necessary services in a coordinated manner across different sectors. While this strategy has been and continues to be extremely relevant, reality prevails, and the needs of women compel all stakeholders to seek new strategies to provide a quality, adequate, and timely response. In this sense, local civil society presents itself as a real alternative, with greater agility and short-term capacity to provide assistance to women seeking to escape the cycle of violence and define a new future for themselves.
This program takes a step forward and prioritizes the strengthening of grassroots community organizations (BCOs) that are in direct contact with women victims and survivors of GBV, such as the Hixikanwe Association and the Nhamai Association, which seek to fill the gaps, both in the response and in the State's resources for the implementation of public policies on this matter. Therefore, actions with an impact on the City and Province of Maputo are planned, such as: (1) Strengthening the organizational and operational capacities of the Hixikanwe and Nhamai associations in the prevention and care of GBV; (2) Increasing the supply of quality care services to women survivors of GBV; (3) Improving the coordination, monitoring, and referral capacities between civil society institutions and the health sector in the care of women survivors of GBV; (4) Improving the coordination, synergy, and political advocacy capacities between civil society organizations and government entities working on the issue of GBV; and (5) Raising citizen awareness and sensitization regarding GBV and new masculinities.
