Revisitar o Espaço Cívico Moçambicano em Tempo de Crise

Abstract

With the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been an increased attention on the state-citizen relationship, and the fact that many governments have used the law to restrict civic space, for example by putting limitations on freedoms for citizens to demonstrate. The Government of Mozambique is one such government. Following the first case of coronavirus being reported by the Mozambique Ministry of Health on 22 March 2020, the Mozambican President declared a State of Emergency for the first time in the country’s history. This declaration gave rise to a set of measures which restricted citizen mobility, including public and private meetings. However, this was just the next stage in a context of increasingly shrinking civic space in Mozambique.

This brief reviews the trend of closing civic space in Mozambique over the last decade, examining: (i) the constraints faced by civic actors; (ii) the factors that put civic space increasingly at threat; and (iii) the failures of programmes to support the strengthening of civil society organisations (CSOs).