2019 was an important year for UNFPA and partners as we commemorated the 25th anniversary of the landmark International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994. The Nairobi Summit saw recommitments by governments, civil society, donors, and the private sector to accelerate reproductive health and empowerment-related goals for youth, women and girls. 

Two major themes of the 2019 Nairobi Summit resonate strongly in a country like Mozambique: securing the rewards of a demographic dividend by investing in youthful populations and responding to the rising number of humanitarian crises in the world.

Reflected throughout UNFPA Mozambique’s 2019 Annual Report, harnessing the power of youth remains at the forefront of our programming (under the spirit of ‘nothing about us, without us’). 2019 was also the year where our programming required us to adapt to responding to Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, providing more than 1 million services to some 400,000 people in need. 

From supporting 40,000 individuals to take-up family planning methods in Cabo Delgado under the highly successful ‘KIMCHI’ project and supporting the much-awaited release of the 2017 Population Census to launching the joint UN/EU-supported Spotlight to End Gender Based Violence Initiative, 2019 was a pivotal year of beginnings, the year to reaffirm our global and country commitments towards the ICPD, and work strategically, creatively and collaboratively to ensure we leave no one behind.