Conectas receives human rights activists for 2011-2012 Fellowship Program

Every year, Conectas brings activists from Portuguese-speaking Africa (Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde) to Brazil as part of the  Conectas’ Human Rights Fellowship Program for Lusophone Africa. For the 8th edition, Conectas receives four activists from Mozambique: Cosme Crisanto Nyusi (33), Ferosa Abel David Chaúque Zacarias (31), Katia Sofia Mussagy de Oliveira (28) and Saite António Júnior (28).

Learn more about the 2011 fellows. Click here.

The activists, who have already been in the city of São Paulo for over a week expect, over the next five months they will spend in Brazil, to improve their expertise in human rights and share experiences with other activists and organizations in the country.

The fellows will spend their time in Brazil attending lectures at the Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), taking training courses and working internships at Conectas partner organizations. Before returning home, the activists will present a project to be developed within their organizations in Mozambique over a 12-month period.

Ferosa, a lawyer specializing in combating domestic violence against women by offering legal aid, believes that the fellowship program is an opportunity for the participants to develop their academic knowledge and their professional experience. “I used to feel that something was missing in my work, particularly in our service to victims. After this program, I know I’ll have more resources to use in Mozambique.” Katia, meanwhile, a psychologist who provides treatment to victims of domestic violence, intends to get to know the methods of treatment that are used in Brazil and, possibly, apply them in her own country.

For the researcher Saite, having direct contact with and learning from the experience of a country outside the African continent on the subject of refugees, his field of study and work, was what led him to participate in the program. “I want to see how Brazil handles this issue and what the possibilities are for treating refugees here”. The activist Nyusi also believes that the program will have an impact on his work as a lawyer. He explained that it is important to learn the methods that Brazilian public defenders use to defend victims of human rights violations, especially prisoners.

Besides these work-related issues, their curiosity about the culture and history of Brazil, coupled with the fact that it is a Portuguese-speaking country, they said, also encouraged them to participate in the Fellowship Program. 

Civil society in Mozambique

The four human rights activists believe that the work of civil society in Mozambique is vital to the protection of human rights. “There, NGOs are responsible for making sure that citizens know their rights,” said Katia. She explained that funding exists for the enforcement of rights, such as free legal assistance, although most of the population is unaware that these services are available.

Moreover, they emphasized the whistle-blowing role of the organizations, which are responsible for exposing human rights violations. “Based on this exposure, the government is compelled to pay attention and respond to these problems,” said Nyusi.

Nevertheless, Saite believes that it is necessary to expand and strengthen the work of Mozambican civil society beyond the capital Maputo and to increase the production of research on rights violations in the country. “Very often the country’s problems are restricted to the situation in Maputo. The provinces are very different from one another. To improve the situation, we need to know more.” According to the activist, 95% of the country’s research institutes are concentrated in the capital.