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Debate
Fernando Menete, Grupo 20, Mozambique: "Civil Society must increase its knowledge"
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12/2006 |
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[ Fernando Menete, Grupo 20, Mozambique ]
“We must increase our knowledge”
About 50 developing countries have come up with poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSP) since the late 1990s. Many of them, such as Mozambique, have even presented a second-generation PRSP. Increasingly, these documents are serving as guidelines for development cooperation. Non-governmental agencies are supposed to contribute to drafting and implementing the papers, but in many countries their involvement remains quite superficial. In our interview, Fernando Menete from the network Grupo 20 (G-20) explains how civil-society organisations in Mozambique were able to increase their influence and outlines the problems they still face.
According to donors, the Mozambican government is performing well in terms of policy designed to reduce poverty. Is that really so?
The macro-economic data are indeed very promising. The economy is growing at an annual seven percent; and exports have greatly increased in recent years. The problem, however, is that the poor people hardly benefit.
But according to official figures, the share of the poor has fallen from 70% of the population to just over 50% since the 1990s.
Since 2004, our network called G-20 has been producing an alternative poverty report each year. For that purpose, we interviewed some 8000 people in the provinces about their living conditions. Most of them said that things actually got worse for them over recent years. The official reports on the Millennium Goals show that there has been progress in some areas, but not in others, such as in food security. If the people are really less poor today, why hasn’t their food situation improved?
So the official poverty statistics are not reliable?
They should definitely be read with caution. The government itself admits that the data are not always safe. Here is one example: In the northern province of Sofala, the poverty rate has supposedly fallen from 80% to just 30%. At the same time, Sofala is one of the provinces with the greatest problems. Many people there complain that there is not enough investment and aid. Two sugar factories began production in Sofala a few years ago, creating employment. It is possible that the government collected most of its data there and then projected the results onto the whole province. Moreover, data collected just once is not as reliable. In the southern province of Gaza, for example, the poverty rate is heavily affected by the amount of rainfall. If there is enough rain, there is less poverty. But poverty will increase in times of drought.
The government produced its second-generation PRSP this year. How has civil society’s involvement changed since the first PRSP was published in 2001?
It has improved a great deal. Cooperation between government, civil society and donors has become more firmly institutionalised in the Observatório da Pobreza, the Poverty Observatory, since 2003. In addition, technical working groups were set up last year to review the first PRSP and to prepare the second one, and these groups include members from civil society. Above all, we have been involved for two years in the joint review process between the government and donors to evaluate budget support. This is the forum for policy-relevant discussions, so it is probably even more important than the establishment of the Poverty Observatory.
Was it difficult to encourage the government to accept greater cooperation?
To some extent, yes. The government’s idea of participation was always completely different from ours. If the government had its way, it would only submit resolutions to us on an ad hoc basis, discuss them briefly with us and then have them approved. We have made it clear that we insist on the institutionalisation of our cooperation. We also want consultation over longer periods in order to enable us to prepare decisions better. Currently we are mainly focusing on getting better access to information. We have been working with journalists, and because of our efforts, parliament will soon consider a law on freedom of information.
What other shortcomings are there?
We are worried about how the strategy papers are implemented. We are hardly involved in relevant decision-making, for instance, on how the goal of poverty reduction is reflected in national policy. Of course this is not only the government’s fault. When issues are very technical, there comes a time when we as civil society are no longer able to contribute, because we do not command the expertise required. A government representative once told us: “You surely don’t think that I am going to discuss inflation with farmers.” After fighting for more space for better involvement in recent years, we now have to accept that we often are unable to make good use of that space. We have therefore been stepping up our staff’s training since last year; and we have been attempting to enter into alliances with people who have the necessary skills, academics for example.
In many countries, only urban organisations participate in policy-making. The rural population often does not have any opportunity to contribute. Is that any different in Mozambique?
We are aware of the problem. There are often complaints from provincial representatives that no one discusses their ideas with them. They say that the government or civil society is continually sending them people who want information and ask all sorts of questions. Then they disappear and nothing is ever heard of them anymore. Rural needs are different from urban ones. City-based organisations often discuss general policy issues while, for the rural population, it is everyday problems that matter.
Doesn’t the G-20 deal with rural organisations?
Yes, it does. Both the G-20 and the Poverty Observatory now have branches in the provinces. So there are also opportunities for participation beyond the towns. We are therefore attempting to train our representatives at the provincial and district levels, so that they become able to take advantage of such opportunities.
There is much discussion in Germany about the legitimacy of civil-society organisations. Is that so in Mozambique too?
Yes, it is. It began with the work on the PRSPs. The government is accused time and again of feeling more accountable to civil society and donors than to parliament. We have always advocated for parliament to be involved in the PRSP process in the same way that civil society and donors are.
Doesn’t that happen already?
Only very superficially, such as when the budget is passed. Parliament has the same problem as civil society. Often it does not have the technical knowledge required, for example, on how to handle budget issues properly. Moreover, policy-debate in Mozambique is strongly moulded in the conflict between the Frelimo and Renamo parties. Parliamentarians typically base decisions on party affiliation rather than any objective criteria. We invite parliamentarians to our debates from time to time, but they usually do not show much interest. Unfortunately, this creates the impression that parliamentary debates are actually irrelevant. For some time, we have therefore been trying to involve society at large in important debates on policy, the budget, for example.
In the meantime, the number of NGOs is growing fast in many developing countries. Some do good work, others do not. Many focus mainly on getting development aid. Have you noticed this trend in Mozambique?
Yes, there is an urban professional elite, which deals exclusively with development matters. We call this the “workshop business”. But I don’t let that bother me, because I hope that society’s awareness of poverty-reduction issues will increase in the long term thanks to the work of the professionals – and that, in turn, should strengthen the base of civil society.
Questions by Tillmann Elliesen.
Fernando Menete
works in Maputo for Grupo da Dívida, a network of debt-relief groups, and for Grupo 20, a network of non-governmental organisations, which monitors the PRSP process. divida@tvcabo.co.mz
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