Mozambique

IRD has been working in Mozambique since 2004 on water, sanitation, and hygiene (HIV/AIDS, and women’s entrepreneuprograms. In addition to a national office in Maputo, IRD has three provincial offices Inhambane, Sofala, and Zambezia, with 90 people on staff.

Water and Sanitation

In water and sanitation, IRD in Mozambique implements programs that range from emergency water supply to water harvesting infrastructure developmental projects, with funding from such partners as USAID, UNICEF, Americares, the United MethodisChurch, and the Swiss Federal Institute forEnvironmental Science and Technology. IRD has rehabilitated/installed more than 100 water sources to date while also training water committees and mobilizing communities for improved hygiene. IRD is at the forefront of water and hygiene at schools in Mozambique, introducing the solar water disinfection (SODIS) method and installing 27 rooftop water harvesting systems.

In the area of sanitation, IRD has installed 4,500 latrines in Zambezia province, training local masons to produce slabs and activists that encourage communities to use latrines. IRD is promoting Certeza, a simple chlorine solution for household water treatment, through its Women First entrepreneurial network and is currently testing the ceramic filter SIPHON with 100 households in Morrumbala district. IRD was the “WASH cluster” responsible partner for Zambezia province in the 2007 and 2008 floods and is an active member of the Water and Sanitation Group, which coordinates WASH activities in Mozambique.

HIV/AIDS

IRD helps community-based organizations learn to implement HIV prevention, orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) care, and home-based care (HBC) activities. IRD HIV/AIDS programs are supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the National AIDS Council, and USAID/President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief program through sub-grants to AED and World Vision. Through interactive trainings and close follow up, IRD builds the capacity of community groups in Zambezia province and associations in Inhambane province to implement activities and establish systems for program monitoring and financial accountability to donors. IRD has developed toolkits and designed a mentoring program specifically for assessing, planning, and implementing capacity building programs for small associations working in the technical areas of home-based care, HIV prevention, and OVC care and support. IRD is the umbrella partner of the World Food Program for two provinces (Sofala and Inhambane), where it provides food assistance to 15,300 OVC and 24,250 HBC patients through 35 local partner associations.

Women’s Entrepreneurship

IRD designed and implements the Women First program, which combines health and HIV/AIDS activities with entrepreneurial training and the creation of sustainable business for rural women. IRD provides women’s groups with intensive training on health and HIV/AIDS, and in partnership with private sector companies creates a supply chain for basic consumption items to be sold by female entrepreneurs. In this way the program increases knowledge of healthy behaviors in the community, increases economic capacity of women to put healthy behaviors in practice, and increases volume of sales for its private sector partner. IRD implemented the Women First program in Inhambane and Zambezia provinces with funding from CIDA and USAID through a sub-grant to World Vision. To date, Women First has established more than 200 entrepreneurs in Zambezia province, and monthly sales have exceeded US$18,000. In a province where the latest behavioral study revealed that only 34.9 percent of women knew at least one method of HIV prevention, 97.5 percent of those in the Women First program specifically cited condom use as a prevention method. Half of the women used their new disposable income from the program to buy food, while 54 percent bought household items and 44 percent bought school supplies for their children.

Programs

Community-Based Solar Disinfection Program

Access to clean and safe drinking water is a huge challenge for much of the world’s... more

Preventing Cholera in Coastal Mozambique

    Mozambique is one of the most climatically vulnerable countries in South... more

Reducing Vulnerability to Drought, Cyclones & Climate Change in Mozambique

For over a decade, Inhambane province, Mozambique, has experienced severe cyclones... more

SCIP Program in Southern Mozambique

While Mozambique is seen as a rare country to have successfully rebounded from year... more

Strengthening Health Services through Community Mobilization

Through the ESOCUIDA project (the Portuguese acronym for Empowerment of Civil Socie... more

Women First

IRD has been implementing the Women First program since 2005 in an effort to empowe... more

Success Stories

A Life Worth Living

For more than 15 years, Davide Joao Jeque worked in warehouse stock management in t... more

Addressing Hygiene and Sanitation Needs in Rural Mozambique

Zambezia Province, Mozambique - Fifty-four percent of the Mozambican population liv... more

Flooding in Mozambique Worsens, More Communities Evacuated

In anticipation of the high possibility of severe flooding of the Zambezi river, IR... more

Healing More than just Patients in Mozambique

Typically collaboration between traditional healers and hospitals in Mozambique is... more

Helping Farmers Succeed

IRD has been working in Mozambique since 2004 on a range of issues and proj... more

Improving Health and Livelihoods of Rural Mozambican Women

The Women First program combines HIV/AIDS education with entrepreneurial training a... more

Involving Men in HIV Care in Mozambique

Health-related community organizations have traidtionally been the domain o... more

IRD Celebrates World Aids Day in Mozambique with Local Associations of People Living With HIV/AIDS

Today, IRD worked with two associations of people living with HIV/AIDS – Kurula in... more

IRD Prepares Response for Flooding in Mozambique

In anticipation of the high possibility of severe flooding of the Zambezi river, IR... more

IRD Provides Apiculture Trainings for Bee-Keeping Associations

Recently, IRD finished its final training for an association of bee-keepers in the... more

IRD to Help Improve Health and Livelihoods in Zambezia Province

A consortium led by World Vision including IRD received a $49.4 million grant from... more

IRD’s Anti-Drought Programs Succeed Due to Community Participation

"You have a massive program here," said one of the delegates from USAID's Office of... more

New IRD Program Gives Women Business Opportunities in Mozambique

Since its inception one year ago, IRD’s Women First program has trained 300 women i... more

Orphaned Children Learn Life Skills through IRD’s Program in Inhambane Province

Early every Friday morning, Caromila Castro walks 2 km and joins a group of other a... more

Thousands Flee Flooding in Mozambique

Mozambique is facing a major flood emergency. Though the local government had worke... more

Training Communities to Provide Home-Based Care

Rassi (her name has been changed to protect her privacy) lives in a modest... more

Women First Participants Send Their Children to School

The Women First Group of Muliquela community in Ile district, Mozambique co... more