Making the Difference: An Intensive Model for Strengthening Civil Society Capacity in Mozambique

Strong, diverse civil society organizations (CSOs) play an important role in propelling sustainable, country-owned and -driven social change and progress. Despite growth over the last two decades, CSOs in Mozambique require stronger organizational capacity to fully participate in national dialogue and development. With funding from the government of Flanders, Pathfinder International implemented the “Strengthening the Capacity of Youth Civil Society in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights” (Iniciativa) project (2012–2015) in Maputo City, Gaza, and Tete provinces. This project aimed to build the capacity of five youth-focused CSOs to enable them to achieve greater organizational independence and autonomy and take part in advocacy initiatives. To realize this goal, Pathfinder adopted an intensive capacity building model focused on mentorship, supervision, and coaching. This brief explores the project’s strategy, capacity building model, implementation experience, results, and recommendations.