[Press Release] Linking global advocacy to girls’ right to education in Mozambique

In Sofala and Inhambane provinces, Justa Paz runs community-based girls’ clubs to empower participants with livelihoods such as sewing, enabling them to make their own school uniforms and reusable sanitary pads. These initiatives, especially the latter, safeguard the girls’ right to education as many of them are forced to abandon school if they cannot afford to buy sanitary pads.

Civil society plays an important role in the UPR process by providing the states under review with background information and concrete proposals from the concerned population. “We are glad that several states we talked to before the review, raised our recommendations during the UPR session in Geneva,” Motiane said.

Motiane said she hopes the government’s response will also include other urgent challenges in a country with one of the highest rates of child marriage and a 70 percent school dropout among pregnant adolescents, according to the UN. “For a longer-term impact, we need our government to better protect girls from early marriage and to strengthen measures to guarantee their education,” she said.