MOZAMBIQUE: REQUEST FOR 2005 AMBASSADOR'S FUND FOR

UNCLAS MAPUTO 000545

SIPDIS
FOR PRM/AFR - MARY LANGE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF MZ
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: REQUEST FOR 2005 AMBASSADOR'S FUND FOR
REFUGEES ASSISTANCE

REF: STATE 27113


1. Summary. Post requests $20,000 for vocational training
of refugees at the Marratane Refugee Camp in Nampula,
northern Mozambique. The project will be carried out by
World Relief, a NGO that has assisted refugees in Mozambique
since 1998. With Ambassador's Fund assistance, World Relief
would construct three classrooms for vocational training
assistance, and would purchase necessary tools and equipment
in order to carry out classes in basic electronics,
mechanics, plumbing, and bricklaying. The target audience of
the project would be unskilled camp residents with families
and youths over 16 years of age. World Relief has
demonstrated to post that it has signed a code of conduct
consistent with UN IASC provisions and is thereby eligible
for funding. End Summary.


2. Justification: World Relief, in consultation with UNHCR
and the Embassy, has identified vocational training as a
priority for integration of refugees at Marratane Camp.
Nearly all of the approximately 5,000 residents at the
Marratane Camp are from the Great Lakes region, with a
plurality from the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of
Congo. Repatriation is not an option at this time or in the
near future, and camp residents need skills and training to
integrate into the local economy. The camp includes two
primary schools and has taken initial steps toward forming a
secondary school, but limited resources are available to
train young men and women who already must provide for their
families. World Relief currently carries out an agricultural
microcredit program in the camp; this program assisted 634
refugees in 2004. Also in 2004, World Relief started a
vocational training program focused on computer skills,
carpentry, and sewing. With this requested vocational
training project, World Relief hopes to diversify the range
of its vocational training to include more specialized and
marketable skills, and also improve the quality and security
of its training facilities.


3. Project details: World Relief proposes to dedicate $13,000
to the construction of three classrooms and $7,000 to the
purchase of equipment for the new classrooms. Classrooms
would be constructed with local materials (cement block,
wood, plaster) and would be built by camp residents. These
classrooms are necessary not only to create a suitable
learning space, but also to establish a secure area where
equipment can be stored without the threat of robbery.
(Primary school classrooms at Marratane are exposed to open
air and are not secure.) Equipment to be purchased would
include the following items: two computers, electronic tools,
mechanical tools, block making equipment, plumbing tools,
desks, tables, and chairs. World Relief has identified
potential electronics, mechanics, and plumbing teachers
within the existing refugee camp population, and will pay
teaching salaries with its own pre-existing funds. World
Relief will arrange employment for trainees upon completion
of the program.


4. Code of Conduct. As a subcontractor for UNHCR, World
Relief has signed a Code of Conduct similar to the one
described in reftel. The code was signed by Samuel M.
Grottis, Director of World Relief for Southern Africa.
LALIME