Final report : Mozambique : vota Mocambique -- USAID cooperative agreement no. 656-0227-G-SS-3001 : November 1993 to November 1995

NDI utilized a train-the-trainers approach for voter education, initially selecting a core group of trainers located in all the provinces and the city of Maputo to receive instruction on the procedures of democratic elections and voting. They in turn instructed others throughout the provinces and districts in the country. By October 1994, this training network included 200 people at the local, district, and provincial levels. By election day, NDI trainers had conducted more than 9,400 sessions for almost 1.8 million Mozambican participants. Using findings from public opinion research conducted in 1993 and 1994, Vota Mocambique produced a range of voter education materials and radio programs. Civic education trainers sponsored by NDI, the CNE, the United Nations, and nongovernmental and church organizations used materials including a video illustrating the mechanics of voting and a voter education newspaper, Vamos Votar (Let"s Vote), designed specifically for the Mozambican context. Working with local writers and artists, NDI produced civic education radio programs to reach remote areas of the country. An election theme song was recorded for media broadcast and sung at popular gatherings. NDI also co-sponsored a series of training workshops for journalists from the state-run and newly created opposition radio stations with the United States Information Services (USIS). The workshops, which offered TA on writing news stories and conducting interviews, emphasized nonpartisan election coverage. (Sample materials used by NDI are appended.) Vota Mocambique was lauded by the CNE as a project that respected their authority and sought to work within their constraints. This effort to work within and build upon the civil society in Mozambique made Vota Mocambique one of the most important voter education initiatives in the country. Civic education will continue to be a massive undertaking in Mozambique, and Vota Mocambique has created the foundation for the development of an enlightened, participatory civil society. (Author abstract)