“There is still a long way to go for women’s rights, but, thanks to the CA-PAZ association, in the Machava neighborhood, there is an additional point of reference

CA-PAZ was born from the international experience of a Mozambican psychologist, Marcelina Chai Chai, who in 2007 founded the Association for Psychosocial Assistance and Empowerment for Victims of Violence, which aims to strengthen, first of all, women, but also the entire community in which they live. The association operates in six peripheral neighborhoods of Maputo (Vale do Infulene, Acordos de Lusaka, Trevo, Tsalala, Machava Jota, Machava Sede) in Mozambique and its activity had already begun in June 2004, with the introduction of the dell’Intervento Psicosociale Comunitario (IPC) (the Community Psychosocial Intervention): this technique uses a holistic and multi-sectoral approach that considers health as a state of well-being that involves different aspects of a person’s life, such as physical, psychological, social, economic and cultural.

From the experience gained in the application of IPC, this approach resulted in a formal model called “Good Neighbor” (Bom Vizinho), with the aim of transforming community members into agents of change, responsible for solving the neighborhood’s social problems and improving living conditions.

The “Good Neighbor” is a member of the community, who goes through a training process to acquire the skills of management, control and prevention of different problems and situations of violence, health and poverty that occur in their community. The approach is aimed at promoting mutual aid and solidarity among the members of the community, led by women who take care of their neighborhood and manage sustainable revolving credit savings systems to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

With 18 years of experience, more than 40 volunteers in the field, over 5,000 people assisted, CA-PAZ intervenes in all aspects that contribute to the well-being of the person, looking at the individual within his family and community context: every day the association contributes to the strengthening and independence of women in the community through the instrument of financial support, promotes knowledge and the application of existing laws against gender violence and creates opportunities for the effective empowerment of women and girls: this model has proven effective in reducing the incidence of violence in communities and in creating a support network for women victims of family violence.

Since 2019, AGAPE and its partner, PASSI Società Cooperativa, have been sending volunteers to Mozambique through the Italian Government’s Universal Civil Service program to work in the various organizations with which it collaborates. One of these is CA-PAZ, which this year has the support of 5 volunteers, Beatrice, Camila, Giulia, Lavinia and Serena. The girls participate in weekly psychosocial support visits in the communities, in which, together with the association’s activists, they refer victims to the public services responsible for each type of problem faced (for example, police, legal services, social assistance, health system). In November 2022, they participated in community marches and meetings as part of the 16 days of activism against gender violence that are held every year, in which, in addition to CA-PAZ, other organizations that deal with gender rights participated.

Currently, they are working on several fronts: on the one hand, to support the activities of a project of women’s empowerment and income generation funded by the Catalan Agency for Cooperation in Development and, on the other, they are working on the planning and development of institutional materials to start a fundraiser aimed at businesses in the area. In the coming weeks, workshops will also begin at the secondary school in Machava, the neighborhood where the organization is based, for closer contact with the younger generations, in order to prevent violent dynamics through weekly meetings to disseminate information on issues such as gender roles and gender violence.”