Facilitating Gender Equitable Local Development: GELD Mozambique

Abstract

In 2009, UN Women and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) launched the Gender Equitable Local Development (GELD) Programme in five African countries: Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania. The three-year Programme’s central aim is to improve women’s access to resources and services at the local level through gender-responsive planning, programming and budgeting. GELD provides technical and financial support to local governments to plan, budget, and implement programmes to better respond to women’s priorities and ultimately contributes to advancing gender equality. This case study profiles GELD implementation in Mozambique, describing results achieved to date with a view to share knowledge that may be useful for replication and scale up. Specifically, it describes the project context and key activities to revitalize local level governing structures, with increased space for women participants, and improve women’s access to services and resources. It reflects on the promising progress made to date and the challenges it has faced.