The "la Caixa" Foundation promotes social innovation in Mozambique with the creation of 4,500 jobs
The "la Caixa" Foundation has contributed to generating more than 4,500 jobs in Mozambique through its Work4Progress (W4P) programme. Since 2018, the entity has collaborated with 18 entities, including local and international organisations, universities, companies and financial institutions, in order to promote employment in the Mozambican regions of Cabo Delgado and Maputo. In these 5 years of the programme, more than 450 businesses have been set up and more than 38,500 people have benefited.
At a W4P event held at the headquarters of the Polytechnic University of Maputo, these results were presented and strategic alliances to generate employment and income for women and young people were discussed. The meeting was attended by the Director of the International Area of the "la Caixa" Foundation, H.R.H. Princess Cristina, as well as the Mozambican Minister of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, and the Mozambican Secretary of State for Youth and Employment, Osvaldo Petersburgo.
The W4P programme works in Mozambique to generate employment in the field of agricultural production, which includes the processing and marketing of products with higher added value, as well as job placement and support for entrepreneurship, especially among young people and women. The programme supports business start-ups and support services for the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
One of the programme's initiatives is a guarantee and credit fund that has been set up together with the Mozambican financial institution Gapi Sociedade de Investimentos and the NGO Ayuda en Acción, with a budget of almost 100,000 euros. This fund aims to provide loans to farmers and young entrepreneurs, many of whom are entering the banking system for the first time. To date, 37 loans have been granted.
Sustainable technological innovation is another of W4P's commitments. A good example of this is the initiative that, together with the NGO Cesal, is already in production: a portable water pump for agricultural irrigation that works thanks to solar energy. This model will be marketed in the Cabo Delgado region by a group of 12 women who have received training at the Universidade Lúrio and who, thanks to the programme's support, have set up a company to develop the project.
Support for farmers' associations in Magude
The delegation from the International Area of the "la Caixa" Foundation that travelled to Mozambique also took advantage of the visit to take part in two other institutional meetings. On the one hand, the inauguration of the Casa Agraria, an initiative also promoted by the W4P programme and led by Enraíza Rights in collaboration with the Association of Agricultural Technicians (ATAP), which includes nine farming associations in Magude, all of them managed by women.
The aim of this project is to promote the collection, processing and marketing of surplus production of vegetables, cereals and tubers in order to avoid food losses in times of high production. This project also includes activities related to the drying of vegetables in order to promote the preservation of food and ensure its consumption in times of shortage.
The W4P programme is an initiative of the "la Caixa" Foundation focused on social innovation to promote employment among women and young people at risk of exclusion in countries such as Mozambique and also Peru, India and, recently, the Colombian region of Necoclí. To this end, W4P collaborates and works with local entities with which it seeks a direct impact on the people of each territory, as well as with universities, companies and financial entities, in addition to the public sector. Since the launch of this programme in 2017, more than 30,000 jobs have been generated and more than 140,000 people in vulnerable situations in Mozambique, Peru and India have benefited.
Grants of almost 300,000 euros for 13 social innovation projects
As part of the Juntos! programme to strengthen Mozambican civil society organisations, the Director of the International Area of the "la Caixa" Foundation, H.R.H. Princess Cristina, also took part in a ceremony to award grants to social organisations in Mozambique. The event, organised together with the Aga Khan Foundation, recognised the work of 13 social innovation projects which have been awarded financial aid worth almost 300,000 euros.
Among the beneficiaries of these grants are organisations such as the Universidade Pedagógica de Maputo, the Rede Contra o Abuso de Menores, the EcoSIDA association, the Centro de Apoio à Informação e Comunicação Comunitária (CAICC), the Zizile - Instituto de Formação para o Desenvolvimento da Criança or the associations TV Surdo and ActionAid Moçambique (AAMoz). All the institutions that have benefited develop projects focused on areas such as health, nutrition, education, empowerment of women and girls, social cohesion and environmental management, among others.
The "la Caixa" Foundation and the Aga Khan Foundation have been collaborating since 2014 in the Juntos! programme, a platform for developing innovative and sustainable solutions to current social, economic and environmental challenges, with the aim of promoting local development.
