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The Mozambique Acacia Advisory Committee (MAAC) History of MAAC: An effect on government By interacting with government, the Mozambique Acacia Advisory Committee (MAAC) is making a very important contribution to the development of Mozambique, said Venâncio Massingue, Vice Chancellor, UEM and Acacia research coordinator in Mozambique. “We are moving towards being a unit to
serve as a watchdog and provide advice,” he told the Acacia Workshop. “I also
think we have a responsibility to ensure that what is happening in Mozambique
will have an impact on South Africa, and vice versa.”
Massingue thanked the IDRC for bringing participants to interact at the World Summit, which was “a very special meeting” with huge implications for the region. Reviewing the development of MAAC, he said that in 1996 he and others from Mozambique were invited to be at the meeting of the ECA (Economic Commission for Africa), which led to participation in Acacia. In 1997 another meeting took place in Rosebank, Johannesburg, which was a milestone for Acacia. The workshop at the World Summit should be one too. “It was clear from the beginning that the Acacia programme would have to be driven mainly by those who benefit, and not by Ministers and Presidents. But such developments would always have to fit into the government programme,” said Massingue. “Development policies and strategies should benefit from what we were going to do, so it was important to set up an advisory body without political power but with enough technical knowledge to be influential.” As a departure point it was decided that such a committee would have to be composed of people from many parts of the country and sectors—government, NGOs, women’s organizations, government officials, and so on. “There were 27 members in the group. The composition is made up of people who not only talk about things but also do things; we can make sure that what we talk about can be proven in practice. Also, you have different outcomes depending on how you position the two entities of government political and official personnel. “We also brought in religious organizations. After 16 years of war people need spiritual relief, and the churches play a big role in this. We used to meet between two and three times a year when we started: now we are meeting when we plan to. He said that Acacia comprises two broad constituencies: (1) research and (2) communities. “The communities we are talking about may differ from what people think of in other countries. For us, schools by themselves form communities. Those who have been displaced by war and are back in rural areas also form communities. We have identified different groups of communities who can benefit from what we are doing. “There are so many initiatives taking place in these ICTs, with every day new projects and more money. Our perception is that if ICTs are going to have a positive impact we need to interlink on what we are doing. We need complementarities. I like to use the big ‘C’ for complementary relationships rather than for competition. “But one thing we have realized is that with so many projects and such limited resources, the effect can be to destroy us. We need to integrate so that the outcomes are beneficial. The process is cyclical. We see different projects coming in and we evaluate how they contribute to the development of the country. “This is real, not theory. The national information policy was born from discussions and adopted by government. MAAC has been instrumental in supporting government policy. Government policy creates the conditions for government, NGOs, communities and so on to operate under a framework.” |
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