The Joint Programme on Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality aims to maximize the UN’s effectiveness and strengthen its support in the areas of gender sensitive legislation, economic empowerment of women and elimination of gender-based violence. The Programme contributes towards the following objectives:

• Building the capacity of the government and partners from civil society (CSOs) to advocate for gender sensitive legislation and disseminate information on women’s rights; Support national efforts to fulfill commitments made in favor of women on the national agenda;
• Enhance women’s economic empowerment through enterprise development and access to credit;
• Increase women and girls’ access to basic education; and
• Contribute to the elimination of gender-based violence.

The Programme targets the selected provinces in the north, centre and south, and also addresses the central level. The Programme is being implemented in direct collaboration with government and specific CSOs, and aims to strengthen their capacity to develop, plan and implement gender policies and alleviate poverty while striving to meet the MDGs. The Programme is strengthening institutional capacity through the provision of joint and systematic training, M&E and reporting on progress in order to learn from good practices, complement government efforts based on the UN’s comparative advantages, combining efforts and mobilizing the necessary resources for a common goal.

The Joint Programme (JP) is based on a partnership of UN agencies with   government institutions such as the Ministry of Women and Social Action, the National Council for the Advancement of Women, the Ministries of Labour, Health, Agriculture, Education, Justice, Planning and Development, Interior, together with  academia and several NGOs and community based organizations.

The Ministry of Women and Social Action (MMAS) is responsible for ensuring and coordinating the  mainstreaming of gender into  national development plans and programmes. In the context of this Joint Programme, MMAS is the leading government partner and coordinating entity for the implementing partners.

This Joint Programme is among the largest in Mozambique, with a total of nine participating agencies, namely: UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNIDO, UNESCO, FAO, UNIFEM, ILO and WHO.