Belgium's Minister for Development Cooperation and Larger Cities, Caroline Gennez, visits Mozambique and says that LoCAL is “an example of what international solidarity should be”.

Photo: Minister Gennez visiting Manjangue secondary school, Chokwe, Mozambique.
Credit: Belga

On an official visit to Mozambique, the Minister of Development Cooperation and Major Cities of Belgium, Caroline Gennez, signed a cooperation agreement to focus on combating climate change. The UN Capital Development Fund is among the participating UN agencies.

The €25 million Agreement with a duration of five years aims to support the local population to better prepare for its concrete consequences.

Mozambique is extremely vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis; in 2019, the country was hit by two powerful cyclones – Idai and Kenneth – which killed more than 600 people.

This year, Cyclone Freddy - the longest tropical cyclone ever observed worldwide and the most intense - hit the country twice and caused significant damage.

One of the initiatives supported by the Government of Belgium is the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) led by the Government of Mozambique itself with technical assistance from the UNCDF.

Visit to Gaza Province

Visiting projects and infrastructure delivered to the community by the LoCAL mechanism in Gaza Province, the minister was able to see up close the locally led climate action and how local governments are able to lead, plan, budget and implement actions against climate change.

“As a minister, you are always in the office, but when we travel we see how we support people, how partnerships and resilient structures impact people's lives”, said the minister. “What I saw today is an example of what international solidarity should be; what I saw today is that we can really make a difference”

Caroline Gennez, Minister for Development Cooperation and Larger Cities of Belgium.

LoCAL was designed to provide solutions and access to climate finance for local governments. Initially, it was present in eight districts in Gaza Province and in five districts in Inhambane Province with initial funding from the Belgian government from 2014 to 2020. In 2022, Belgium once again supported Mozambique through LoCAL in two new districts and, and for the first time, in a municipality in the provinces of Gaza and Inhambane with an investment of €4.5 million between 2022 and 2025.

Between 2014 and 2025, the Government of Belgium will have invested around €10 million in locally-led climate action in Mozambique through the UNCDF.

“The first international cooperation to support LoCAL in Mozambique was the Belgian cooperation,” said Ramon Cervera, UNCDF Representative in Mozambique. “Today, LoCAL is present in 40 districts and three municipalities with the international community strongly supporting climate action in the country.”

Photo: Munhamane Primary School in Massingir district was rehabilitated in a climate resilient manner through the LoCAL mechanism after a strong tropical storm passed through the district in 2021. The project was identified, prioritized and selected by the community itself via participation in the local advisory board. Credit: UNCDF/Mbuto Machili

LoCAL

The inclusive and participatory approach has been key to the implementation of LoCAL in all districts, both in deciding on climate resilient investments, as well as in integrating climate change adaptation into planning and budgeting instruments and documentation.

“What I liked to see is the ownership of the people and the community as well as the coordination between the United Nations, donors and the government,” said Minister Gennez on a visit to Manjangue Secondary School, Chokwe, Mozambique. “I hope to return one day and see this school more developed and also other schools in the area, all climate resilient.”

LoCAL channels climate finance through the national public financial management system to local government authorities for locally led adaptation using Performance-Based Climate Resilience Grants.

These grants provide additional decentralized resources to finance local climate-resilient investments. The annual performance of municipalities determines their budget allocation for the following year.

Performance-based grants are intended to reward local governments that adequately carry out their roles and responsibilities in the public financial management system.

Investments are focused on livelihood opportunities and small-scale infrastructure projects that provide a lifeline for communities.

With generous support from Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, the European Union and the Catalonia Region, around 100 adaptive development infrastructures have already been financed during the implementation of the LoCAL Facility in Mozambique. LoCAL has already directly benefited some 3 million people in the country - almost 10% of the Mozambican population.

Find out more about LoCAL here

Sign up to our newsletter