‘Leaving no one behind’ : a study on the conceptualization and operationalization of inclusive development through the (SRHR) activities of the embassy of the Netherlands in Maputo, Mozambique

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‘Leaving no one behind’

A Study on the Conceptualization and Operationalization of Inclusive

Development through the (SRHR) Activities of the Embassy of the

Netherlands In Maputo, Mozambique

Master Thesis

MSc Medical Anthropology and Sociology

Sannelotte Huijsman

Student-ID: 10782451

Supervisor: Dr. D.H. de Vries

Second reader: Dr. G.J.E. Gerrits

Graduate School of Social Sciences

05 March 2020

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“We are observing globalizations-in-the-making, an emergent historical phenomenon that demands inquiry into the who, what, where, when, why, and how of all the activities that call themselves projects of global health. (…) We are in the middle of it, but we understand it imperfectly.”

– Dr. Stacy Leigh Pigg (2013, p. 2).

“What unites many anthropologists’ engagements with development is an interest in and in-depth understanding of the parties involved: their interests, needs, mutual relations, abilities to benefit or the causes of their failure to do so. Anthropologists find themselves studying the local contexts in which ‘big-D’ and ‘small-d’ development meet, and where ‘engaged universals’ and buzzwords such as ‘human rights’, ‘sustainable development’ and ‘security’ are used to articulate difference, mobilize claims to resources, or to forge alliances with global networks.”

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Abstract

Young people in Mozambique are faced with a myriad of social, economic and political challenges related to poverty, inequality and the country’s growing disparities. In response to these challenges, the Embassy of the Netherlands (EKN) in Maputo invests in inclusive development through a variety of projects in different sectors. Young Africa’s Skills 2 Live project is one of the projects through which EKN endorses its ‘inclusive approach’. This research aims to understand how ‘inclusive development’ is conceptualized and becomes operationalized through the projects supported by EKN, by looking at Skills 2 Live as an example. The purpose of this research is to interrogate inclusive development as a global concept in the making, by studying the embodiment of this term, the different epistemological narratives at play and their interaction, and its application in the field. By comparing the perspectives of the funding organisation and the implementing organisation, the thesis sheds light on how these different layers give meaning to ‘inclusive development’ as a concept of development policy. Research was conducted in close collaboration with EKN in Maputo, Mozambique. Field research for the Skills 2 Live case study was conducted at Young Africa’s project sites in Beira, Mozambique and Chitungwiza and Epworth, Zimbabwe. The methodology consisted of documentary analysis, 22 in-depth interviews with EKN staff and Skills 2 Live beneficiaries and staff, and 4 focus group discussions with beneficiaries. Data was analysed through discourse analysis and thematic categorisation. This research concludes that inclusive development is conceptualized by EKN (i) as integrated with aspects of inclusive growth; (ii) as a means of enhancing marginalized groups’ potential and participation in society; (iii) through ‘the leave no one behind’ principle; and (iv) through promoting local stakeholders’ involvement at all levels. The case study on Skills 2 Live provides an illustration of how this conceptualization becomes operationalized on-the-ground, through bridging SRHR interventions and economic empowerment. It reveals a number of success stories and identifies areas for improvement. Hereby, the thesis provides constructive feedback on both EKN’s and Skills 2 Live’s contribution to inclusive development.

Key words: medical anthropology; development cooperation; inclusive development; inclusive growth; social inequality; structural barriers; SRHR; economic empowerment; aid to trade; leaving no one behind; Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken; Mozambique

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Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to those who have contributed to this research and those who have supported me throughout this journey:

To Els, for making this research and my internship at the Embassy possible, for being my sparring partner throughout the five months, but most of all, for the warmest welcome in Maputo I could wish for and for ensuring that I felt at home throughout my stay. To Fátima, for your interesting and critical thoughts on development work, for always explaining me the cultural and political context of our work, and for all the fun conversations. You and Els have provided me with “a family away from home” (your kind words). To all colleagues and fellow interns, for making my time at the embassy not only inspiring and informative, but also incredibly ‘gezellig’ both in- and outside of office hours! Vôces fizeram-me sentir muito bem-vindo aqui. Quero agradecer a todos, pelas boas lembranças!

To Dorien and Wellington, for making it possible to conduct my case study at Young Africa, for helping me with all the logistical aspects of the field visits and for your interesting questions about the research. To Aksana and Chaleca in Beira and Susan and Faith in Chitungwiza, for welcoming me so warmly at the Young Africa centres, for all your support during the visits and for providing me with an understanding of the local and cultural context – this research would have been impossible without your help and knowledge.

To all the young people in Skills 2 Live, for opening up to me, for being willing to share your thoughts and experiences, and for trusting me (a stranger) with your personal stories. Your bright ideas about the future, your determination to help for others, and your wish to contribute to the community, opened my eyes. I truly hope the findings of this research will add to your and your peer’s experience at Young Africa. To the girls at the hostel in Beira: obrigada pelo bom tempo, pelas risadas e por praticar português comigo!

To Danny, for always challenging me to ‘dig deeper’, not to remain at the surface of research and to write elaborately, yet concisely.

Lastly, to my family and friends, for the continuous support, for the endless pep-talks and for ensuring me that I could do it, whenever I was in doubt. Especially to my parents, for your never-ending

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enthusiasm and curiosity that brought you all the way to Mozambique! And to my mom, who made the time and effort to proofread the entire thesis!

Young Africa, Beira

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List of abbreviations

AGYW Adolescent Girls and Young Women

AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ARV /ART Antiretroviral (Therapy)

BHOS Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (‘Buitenlandse Handel en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking’)

BZ Buitenlandse Zaken (see: ‘MFA/FA’)

CATS Community Adolescent Treatment Supporter

CSO Civil Society Organisation

EKN Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (here: EKN/Maputo)

FNS Food and Nutrition Security

GBV Gender-Based Violence

GoM Government of Mozambique

HIV Human Immune-deficiency Virus

HRBA Human Rights-Based Approach

IOM International Organisation for Migration (UN)

KPs Key Populations

LDCs Least Developed Countries

LSE Life-Skills Education

MACS Multi-Annual Country Strategy

MAP Maputo (used as: ‘EKN/MAP’)

MFA / FA (Ministry of) Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands

MISAU Ministry of Health (‘o Ministério da Saúde’, Mozambique)

MSM Men who have sex with men

NGO Non-Governmental Organisation

OS Development Cooperation (‘Ontwikkelingssamenwerking’, see: ‘BHOS’) PITCH Partnership to Inspire, Transform and Connect the HIV response

PVE Preventing Violent Extremism

READY+ Resilient & Empowered Adolescents & Young people REPSSI Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative

SADC Southern African Development Community SDGs Sustainable Development Goals

SRHR Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights

S2L Skills 2 Live

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UN United Nations

UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNFPA United Nations Population Fund

UvA University of Amsterdam

WASH Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

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1. Introduction

“Located in the bustling heart of Maputo, lies the Embassy of the Netherlands. At first sight, its meters-high wooden fences might look a bit unfriendly. Yet, as one passes the always-cheerful guards (‘Bom dia, Senhora! Tudo bem?’) and the women in colourful capulanas selling pão com bajia, one enters an oasis of calm. Surrounded by lush acacia trees, the embassy’s enormous glass windows seem a reflection of the level of transparency it aims to maintain. Little tokens of home (such as the Dutch flag, the statues of cows and geese, the orange bicycles, the picture of Willem and Maxima at the entrance, or colleague’s cheese sandwiches during lunch breaks) always make you feel as if you were with one foot in Mozambique, and one foot in the Netherlands. A subtle reminder of our work in representing and responding to the interests of both countries.” (fieldnotes)

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One important interest of the embassy concerns responding to the needs of young people in Mozambique. The daily life of Mozambican youths is often disproportionately affected by a myriad of challenges associated with sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR); water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); education and employment; food and nutrition; climate change; safety and security; gender inequality; and overall poverty. As for SRHR, such challenges may include HIV/AIDS, early motherhood, gender-based violence (GBV) and discrimination based on one’s sexual orientation (Young Africa, 2019b; MACS, 2019). These problems are complex, intertwined and involve many different actors in their solutions. One of the actors responding to these problems, is the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN) in Maputo, Mozambique. In support of “inclusive and sustainable development in Mozambique” (MACS, 2019, p. IV), EKN’s strategy and activities accentuate an ‘inclusive approach’ (p. 9). It made me wonder what such an approach looks like in practice. What does it mean, to be ‘inclusive’? In close collaboration with the Embassy of the Netherlands in Maputo (MAP), this research aims to understand how ‘inclusive development’ is conceptualized and becomes operationalized through the projects supported by EKN, by studying the different epistemological narratives surrounding this term, their interaction in the field and how their interplay influences project framing and vice versa. This research looks more closely into one of these projects through a case study on the work of Young Africa (YA), an international NGO aiming to alleviate vulnerable Mozambican and Zimbabwean youths from their marginalized position by offering skills trainings for economic empowerment.

My involvement with EKN and Young Africa was encouraged through an internship at the embassy in Maputo, Mozambique. Here, I worked at the department of Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), which focusses on the thematic intersection of health, youth and employment. I was involved in a number of SRHR-related projects, of which monitoring Young Africa’s Skills 2 Live programme was one of my main responsibilities. Field research was conducted at its project sites and at the embassy, which enabled me to study the concept inclusive development from the perspective of both the implementing and funding organisation. I became increasingly curious about the embodiment of this term on either sides, the different narratives at play, and how these meaning-making processes contribute to the understanding of inclusive development as a concept for development policy. This experience,

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together with a body of critical development literature, led me to the formulation of the following research question:

How is inclusive development conceptualized and operationalized through the (SRHR) projects supported by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Maputo, Mozambique?

This question enabled me to conduct ethnographic field research both within EKN itself and within Skills 2 Live as a case study. This allowed for the comparison of two different worlds: one where policy guidelines influence meaning-making, and one where meaning-making becomes apparent through its translation to practice in the field.

1.1. Background of the project

Mozambique is faced with pressing issues, such as high malnutrition rates, low life expectancy yet high population growth rates, insufficient water supply and sanitation facilities and various public health issues (MACS, 2019). The country has the 8th highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world, with 11.5% of the population aged 15 to 49 diagnosed HIV-positive (UNICEF, 2019). The number of new HIV infections has remained stable yet high since 2011, accounting for approximately 150.000 estimated new infections per year. AIDS-related deaths have decreased by 16% since 2010. 56% of people living with HIV are on anti-retroviral treatment (ART). Nevertheless, 2.2 million people are currently living with HIV in Mozambique – a majority of whom are young women (UNAIDS, 2018). Alongside health implications HIV-related stigma, discrimination and taboo limit seropositive Mozambicans’ participation in society.

Deep gender inequalities are affecting women’s socio-economic position “in the areas of education, health and economic participation and opportunities” (MACS, 2019, p. 4). Forced marriage and early pregnancy have a vast impact on the lives of adolescent girls in Mozambique, leading to various health hazards related to maternal and child mortality, malnourishment, unsafe abortion and school dropouts (UNFPA, 2019). This limits girls’ future prospects and perpetuates “the cycle of poverty” (Plan International, 2019, n.p.). In 2015, The World Bank reported an estimated 46% of young

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women in Mozambique, aged 15 to 19, to be pregnant and/or to have had children. According to Plan International (2019), “unmarried pregnant adolescents may face stigma or rejection by parents and peers as well as threats of violence. Girls who become pregnant before age 18 are also more likely to experience violence within a marriage or partnership” (n.p.). According to the World Bank, in Mozambique in 2011, 27.7% of young women reported to have been subject to physical and/or sexual violence (Trading Economics, 2011); often inflicted by intimate partners (UNAIDS, 2017). The World Bank’s (2018) estimates indicate that GBV has dire economic consequences due to lost productivity, costing broadly about 1.2%-3.7% of several countries’ GDP.

Youths affected by the aforementioned challenges experience great difficulty in finding educational and income opportunities (Young Africa, 2019a). With rising economic inequality, a rapidly growing population and an annual 500,000 people entering the labour force, Mozambique’s high unemployment rates present a pressing issue (MACS, 2019). In 2017, the country’s youth unemployment rate reached 42.66% (Statista, 2018). Many find themselves trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. According to Young Africa (2019a), this particularly affects adolescent girls and young women, whose vulnerable position is associated with “poverty, low educational attainment, and gender inequalities which limit girls’ ability to make decisions about their own health, who to have sex with or who and when to marry” (p. 3). To counter this trend, Young Africa is launching a pilot programme in Mozambique and Zimbabwe specifically designed for marginalized youths. The organisation focusses on youth empowerment and development through “skills training for employability and entrepreneurship” (Young Africa, 2018, n.p.). The new Skills 2 Live (S2L) programme targets vulnerable youths, a majority of whom have been exposed to SRHR-related challenges including HIV/AIDS. The project is implemented by lead organisation Young Africa International and various implementing partners, who are responsible for the recruitment of beneficiaries through existing SRHR projects (see: Chapter 1.5). Throughout the 18-month pilot, Skills 2 Live aims to increase “the resilience of 1110 young people through expanding their economic opportunities, life skills and employability” (Young Africa, 2019a, p. 3) through ‘Technical and Vocational Education Training’ (TVET) and life skills training. Examples of TVET courses include catering and culinary training, hospitality, electronic repairing and installation, vehicle maintenance, solar technology, refrigeration, leatherworks, dressmaking and

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hairdressing. Furthermore, Skills 2 Live offers comprehensive sexuality education and HIV information and services to increase knowledge of SRHR. Hereby, Skills 2 Live integrates economic strengthening with SRH and HIV intervention. Next to Young Africa’s training centres, Skills 2 Live also operates through mobile outreaching, in order to reach sex workers, young people affected by migration and/or at risk of recruitment of extremist groups, and other key populations.

1.2. History of inclusive development

UvA-based anthropologists Bakker and Nooteboom (2017) provide historical context to inclusivity as a topic of anthropological research on development philosophy. Until the 1980s, development initiatives had mostly been large-scale, institution-driven and controlled by elites, failing to trickle down and reach marginalized groups. The following two decennia, first efforts were made to counter social, economic and political inequality by means of empowerment, participation and addressing exclusion. These terms and related activities aimed at disrupting and intervening “the barriers of structural inequality and power” (p. 64) but were found difficult to implement. Today, Bakker and Nooteboom (2017) argue, “these buzzwords have lost most of their ‘seductive power’ for policy influencing, [however] new buzzwords and themes emerge, in which the inclusion debate remains central” (p. 64). Could inclusive development be approached as another buzzword in need of further understanding?

Over the last two decades, concerns of ‘big-D Development’, such as the distribution of natural resources and land grabbing, sparked anthropologic interest in themes of in- and exclusion of marginalized groups. Big-D Development would view development as linear and progress-oriented, and engage in neo-colonial and Euro-American-centrist power relations. It was “criticized for having the Global North continuing to control processes of change in developing countries” (Bakker and Nooteboom, 2017, p. 63), as it exerted policies and interventions aimed at ‘improvement’ (p. 65). Critical development scholars and anthropologists became interested in themes such as power dynamics, access to resources and socio-ecological resilience and their embeddedness in the context of global capitalism and development processes. They began to question who becomes excluded, how and with what repercussions. Meanwhile, another stream focussed on understanding the effects of global

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neoliberalism, capitalism and business on socio-economic circumstances, production regimes and corporate development. They studied e.g. poverty, employment and economic precarity in the Global South. Of their particular interest is the relation between entrepreneurship, economic growth and inclusive business development while doing social good. For example, by providing entrepreneurial opportunities to “disenfranchised youth who might otherwise develop into flashpoints of unrest and instability” (p. 65).

The critique sparked interest in ‘little-d development’, which views development as historic processes rather than linear progress, and as outcomes “shaped by and creating social relations of inequality and social in/exclusion” (Bakker and Nooteboom, 2017, p. 63). Little-d development would be of an unintentional nature and require the study of structural processes, interactions between different actors and epistemologies. It thus acknowledges the “relational, unintended and bottom up factors” (p. 63) of development.

1.3. An anthropology of inclusive development

This section describes the theoretical lenses and key concepts that have been of inspiration to the framing of my research.

First of all, Pigg (2013) describes an ‘anthropology of global health’ and the role of ethnography within global and public health interventions. She explains how anthropology is not limited to conducting ethnographic research within the field of global health, but how global health itself can be interrogated as a subject of ethnographic research: an anthropology of global health. This implies the critical interrogation of global health activities and their social arenas. “We are observing globalizations-in-the-making, an emergent historical phenomenon that demands inquiry into the who, what, where, when, why, and how of all the activities that call themselves projects of global health. (…) We are in the middle of it, but we understand it imperfectly” (p. 2). In this thesis, Pigg’s (2013) approach of an ‘anthropology of global health’ was borrowed to study the concept of inclusive development – a word often used in international development policy, to the extent that some scholars refer to the term as a “buzzword” (Roodsaz and Van Raemsdonck, 2018). To what extent do we really understand what is

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meant with ‘inclusiveness’ when it comes to development practice? How and by whom is decided what is ‘inclusive’? The concept of inclusive development, how its meaning is ascribed and employed, was studied in the context of EKN’s development interventions in Mozambique.

Secondly, Roodsaz and Van Raemdonck (2018) critically reflect upon concepts employed within international development aid, and the standardization of development discourse. They focus on concepts of development and question their use, employment and translation. They coin the term ‘script’, referring to explicit goals of development projects and the often standardised discourse surrounding them. Interrogating ‘scriptedness’ enables anthropologists to examine “the implicit underlying goals and detecting silences, missing elements, and paths-not-taken of projects during implementation” (p. 17). This concept can be applied to assess which epistemological narratives are at play, whether dominant narratives exist, how they interact with other epistemologies and how subjectivities (re)shape another. The authors warn against projects engaging in “one-directional transmission of knowledge” (p. 19), which would not only be of hegemonic nature, but would run the risk of missing out on valuable sources of knowledge and underestimating the agency of beneficiaries. Hence, Roodsaz and Van Raemsdonck (2018) apply the concept constructively to make the reader aware of existing scripts, their blind-spots and provide suggestions to stimulate a more bilateral discourse for development. They argue for the need to make use of the different epistemologies and to stimulate dialogue, as inclusive development should encourage a two-way interaction. Within the thesis, these concepts were applied to discourse around inclusive development and to study which narratives and epistemologies exist within EKN and Skills 2 Live, and how these interact.

Lastly, in a critical review of literature on inclusive development, UvA-based development scholars Prof. Dr. Joyeeta Gupta and Dr. Nicky Pouw (2016; 2017) compare the different meanings that scholars and policymakers ascribe to ‘inclusion’. They provide a framework that illustrates how different disciplines apply the term and show that inclusive development can be understood in different ways, according to different agendas. The scholars challenge the illusion of a self-evident and universal notion of ‘inclusive development’ by providing a contextual framework that enables the reader to critically reflect upon the agenda-setting, questioning and prioritization of different disciplines involved in inclusive development and which can be applied as a starting point for contextualizing development

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projects or researches. This can enable researchers to understand why and how certain development actors set certain priorities, as well as to explore their limitations. This approach was adopted within the thesis to understand EKN’s framing of ‘inclusive development’ as representatives of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), and through its prioritization, agenda-setting and selected partner organisations.

1.3.1. What can inclusive development be?

Several interesting insights can be drawn from Pouw and Gupta’s work in their conceptualization of inclusive development. For example, their framework depicts the difference between inclusive development, inclusive growth and inclusive wealth. Of particular relevance to the thesis are the former two.

Inclusive development focuses on “participation, human rights and social demands for the most marginalized people and communities” (Pouw and Gupta, 2016, p. 4) and is rooted in social justice movements and literature. It concerns vulnerable communities, specifically those depending on natural resources, affected by the effects of climate change and/or at risk of land grabbing. Their empowerment through advocacy for equal opportunities, equal rights and redistributive justice would be the fundamental objective of inclusive development. This would require the political will to question the processes which have led to the – often imbalanced – concentration of power in many developing nations. Its emphasis is on enhancing “ecological and social wellbeing” (p. 104) rather than on economic growth. Hence, the two scholars argue that inclusive development should not be confused with inclusive growth.

Inclusive growth, on the other hand, equates development with ‘growth/GDP’. It promotes creating growth as well as sharing growth, for example through employment opportunities and redistributive mechanisms (Pouw and Gupta, 2016, p. 105). As the two term are often used inconsistently, this has led many countries in the global South to adopt inclusive growth rather than inclusive development (Gupta and Pouw, 2017, p. 96). However, inclusive growth is rejected by many critical development scholars, due to its narrow focus on GDP and exclusion of unpaid and informal activities in its philosophy. It would be preoccupied with “racing forward and economic rankings which

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are ecologically and socially destructive” (p. 96). Scholars criticize inclusive growth for being too linear and progress-oriented, hierarchizing between the lower and highly developed world “through the transfer of Eurocentric ideas, science, technologies and approaches from North to South” (p. 96) rather than challenging these hegemonic structures. The discussion between the two development philosophies follows the discussion between little-d and big-D development (see: Chapter 1.2), as inclusive development embodies the former and inclusive growth the latter.

Lastly, a more intrusive and linear version of big-D development would be inclusive wealth, which promotes wealth over growth and is hardly inclusive – if at all. Due to its lesser significance to the thesis, inclusive wealth will not be much further elaborated upon, although it is fair to acknowledge it.

Another interesting conceptual insight from Pouw and Gupta’s (2016) work is their dissection of inclusive development into social, ecological and relational inclusiveness. Rooted in human rights discourse, social inclusiveness is concerned with issues of inequality, redistribution and enhancing wellbeing. It operates on multiple levels: globally, regionally, nationally and locally and acknowledges the context of social issues at these different meta- and micro-levels. Social inclusiveness resulted from “humanitarian and normative concerns for the most vulnerable” (Gupta and Vegelin, 2016, p. 436). Examples of inclusive development can be investments in basic needs, improved livelihoods, public health, education and access to markets and finance. It aims at empowering people, through a human rights-based approach (HRBA). Although some scholars question HRBAs and argue that human rights are a western imposition, others disagree as the embodiment of these rights could counter the manifestations of maldevelopment, such as marginalization, poverty and inequality through the ‘leave no one behind’ principle. Hence, Gupta and Pouw (2017) state that any attempts to improve human wellbeing should be done “according to people’s own priorities” (p. 97). Gupta and Vegelin (2016) add that:

“Social inclusiveness aims at empowering the poorest through investing in human capital and enhancing the opportunities for participation. It is non-discriminatory and is age, gender, caste, sect and creed sensitive in terms of income, assets and the opportunities for employment” (p. 436).

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Thus, requiring of policies and activities to be contextually sensitive and to promote participation and capacity building. Ecological inclusiveness addresses the ecological aspect of inclusiveness, in terms of the relation between vulnerable communities and their dependency on local resources. It argues that the “wellbeing of all people is closely related to continual investment in maintaining ecosystem services” (Gupta, Pouw and Ros-Tonen, 2015, p. 544). Nevertheless, endeavours would often be ‘hijacked’ by inclusive growth efforts and become “anchored in neo-liberal capitalist approaches, which neglect the social component of sustainable development” (p. 554). Ecological inclusiveness, however, would emphasize investments in ecological aspects as beneficial to the society, rather than as at the cost of it. Lastly, relational inclusiveness brings a political angle to social and ecological inclusiveness and interrogates underlying structural power mechanisms that can influence problem solving (Gupta and Pouw, 2017). It addresses social inequalities and disparities, but takes a more political approach in its response to their drivers, as it “recognizes that poverty and ecological degradation are often the result of actions taken by others” (Gupta and Vegelin, 2016, p. 439). Hence relational approaches aim to deregulate political relations that foster structural inequalities. Furthermore, relational inclusiveness requires participation of all actors and at all levels, in order to address all drivers. This implies that both communities and other stakeholders are represented in activities. Activities can include lobbying and advocacy, legal reform and promoting specific (inter)national laws (Gupta and Vegelin, 2016). It calls for development content to be revisited through discursive politics, by representing communities at all levels. Hereby, it challenges neo-liberal tendencies to see people as passive recipients, consumers or clients, and emphasize their position as ‘citizens with rights’ (Gupta and Pouw, 2017, p. 99).

In a nutshell, this section discussed how concepts within international development policy can be approached, studied and looked at in different ways. Hereby, as anthropologists, we aim to challenge the universality of these concepts, by studying their contextuality. The works of Pigg (2013), Pouw and Gupta (2016; 2017), Roodsaz and Van Raemsdonck (2018) have been of inspiration to the formulation of the research question and the theoretical angle adopted throughout this research, by providing a lens through which I have looked at inclusive development as a concept.

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1.4. Research question

How is inclusive development conceptualized and operationalized through the (SRHR) projects supported by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Maputo, Mozambique?

This question will be answered through a case study conducted on Young Africa’s Skills 2 Live programme, as well as findings collected at EKN. The research question is aimed at understanding how inclusive development is translated from a (global) policy level to the field, and how on-the-ground experiences feed back into these. The research is therefore multi-layered. Both the fieldwork conducted during the case study on Skills 2 Live and the experiences from EKN, are ways to come closer to an answer. The following diagram was created to visualise these layers:

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Field research was conducted at the level of EKN (4) and at Young Africa (5), while taking into account the influence that international agendas (1) and policies (2) have on the local strategies adopted by EKN and the implemented projects. Of particular interest is the interaction between level 4 and 5: as EKN on the one hand selects its activities according to the Ministry’s priorities and the needs of the local context, but simultaneously also draws lessons from these activities to adjust and modify its policies where needed. In short, through the above diagram I aim to understand how global policy on inclusive development translates to practice in Mozambique, and how this concept is applied and translated across the different layers. What remains of this concept ‘on-the-ground’?

The sub-questions raised throughout the research include:

• What are the different epistemological narratives on inclusive development at the different levels of research and how do these narratives interact?

o What are the Ministry’s priorities and guidelines regarding inclusive development, and how is this agenda reflected in EKN’s policies?

o What are EKN’s policy priorities and strategies regarding inclusive development in Mozambique and how are these embodied through its activities, including Skills 2 Live? o How is inclusive development reflected in Skills 2 Live and interpreted by stakeholders,

and what are their priorities?

o What discursive scripts are used to describe (means of) inclusive development in all settings?

• What are EKN’s / Skills 2 Live’s strengths and weaknesses when it comes to its overall contribution to inclusive development, and where can it be improved?

• What conclusions can be drawn about EKN’s contribution to inclusive development from the Skills 2 Live case study?

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1.5. Organisational background

Before moving on to the research methodology, I briefly touch upon the organisational structures of the involved parties, as a basic understanding will ease further reading of the thesis.

1.5.1. The Embassy of the Netherlands

Located in Maputo, Mozambique, EKN is responsible for both diplomacy and political affairs, consular affairs, development cooperation and foreign trade. It operates under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), through Minister Kaag of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (BHOS)1_{. This research} was conducted in the context of EKN’s Development Cooperation sector. This sector is divided into several thematic clusters for development policy. These include the Water and Sanitation cluster, the Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) cluster and the Health cluster, among others. My internship took place in the Health cluster, which focuses on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), family planning and HIV/AIDS. The organogram in the appendix visualizes this organisational structure (see: Appendix 1a).

All development clusters engage in bilateral support to Mozambique, by channelling funds through civil society organisations (CSOs). Unfortunately, the bilateral support for the Health cluster will be scaled back and phased-out by 2022, due to ministerial decisions regarding new focus regions2 and due to the ‘hidden debt scandal’3_{. However, Mozambique will continue to receive support for SRHR} through EKN’s ‘regional SRHR-HIV programme’, operating in twelve countries4_{in the SADC region.} The regional programme of 2016-2020 is currently under evaluation and its results will serve as feedback for the optimization of the upcoming programme (2020-2024). The findings of this thesis, and

1_{‘Buitenlandse Handel en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking’}

2_{The Sahel, the Horn of Africa and the MENA region (MFA, 2018)}

3_{Direct bilateral funding to the Government of Mozambique (GoM) was cut after the 2016 ‘hidden debt scandal’.} 4_{Angola, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania,}

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the case study in particular, may be used for the purpose of feedback for the new regional programme. The upcoming programme consists of five projects5_{, including Skills 2 Live as a pilot project.}

1.5.2. Skills 2 Live

Skills 2 Live (S2L) is a consortium-led project. The project’s main implementing organisation is Young Africa (YA) International based in Harare, Zimbabwe, together with YA Mozambique and YA Zimbabwe. These are local non-profit organisations who are affiliated but run independently from YA International.

Skills 2 Live runs both on-site at the YA Skills Centres of Beira, Mozambique, and Chitungwiza and Epworth, Zimbabwe, and through outreach programmes in both countries. For the centre-based training in both countries, a majority of the beneficiaries have been selected and referred to YA through the READY+ programme, an already existing programme run by S2L consortium partner Frontline AIDS and is another consortium in itself. Another smaller amount of beneficiaries has been selected by YA Mozambique and Zimbabwe themselves. Hereby, Skills 2 Live aims to reach 240 beneficiaries with centre-based training in Beira and 288 in Chitungwiza and Epworth. As for the outreach programmes, YA Mozambique recruited its beneficiaries through an existing project of IOM, whereas in Zimbabwe beneficiaries were also recruited through READY+. Hereby, the programme aims to reach another 240 beneficiaries in Ressano Garcia and Cabo Delgado (Mozambique), and 342 in Chirundu and Beitbridge (Zimbabwe). In all cases, recruitment of beneficiaries was done by the consortium partners in close collaboration with local organisations. An organogram of the Skills 2 Live consortium which visualizes its organisational structure can be found in the appendix, as well as a brief description of the consortium partners (see: Appendix 1b and 2).

The next chapter will describe how this research was conducted. Subsequently, its findings have been organised according to the layers of research, starting with findings from EKN (see: Chapter 3),

5_{Brief project descriptions can be found in Appendix 2. In case the reader is interested in more information,}

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followed by an elaborate case study on Skills 2 Live (see: Chapter 4 and 5), after which these findings will be compared and discussed (see: Chapter 6).

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2. Methodology

2.1. Research location

Qualitative research was conducted both at EKN and Skills 2 Live. At EKN this concerned qualitative research during the day-to-day activities of my internship and through conversations with staff members. At Skills 2 Live, this concerned field research at its project sites in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. A majority of the data was collected at the Young Africa training centre in Beira, Mozambique; a harbour city with over 500,000 inhabitants and a bustling overseas trade industry, yet which was severely damaged by cyclone Idai on 14 March 20196_{. Another body of data was collected during a field visit to} the training centres in Chitungwiza and Epworth, Zimbabwe; two high-density commuter towns of respectively 30km and 12km from the capital Harare. Furthermore, in preparation of the out-reach programme, one field trip was conducted with IOM to Ressano Garcia; a Mozambican border town to South Africa, approximately 95km from Maputo. As I worked and stayed in Maputo for over five months and visited Zimbabwe only briefly, the focus of this research is more on Mozambique. Data

6_{Idai cost the lives of approx. 600 people and affected 1.85 million, many of whom are still displaced and continue to live in}

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collected in Chitungwiza and Epworth was therefore used mostly to address similarities and differences between the Young Africa project sites in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

2.2. Research population

EKN: This group consisted of staff members of EKN, amongst whom were colleagues involved with SRHR sector in particular. Informants helped me understand the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MFA) agenda on ‘inclusive development’ and its application by EKN through selected projects, including Skills 2 Live. My entry in the field was facilitated through two key informants, who provided me with the contacts and logistics to be able to carry out this research, as well as an understanding of the contextual setting.

Skills 2 Live: This group consisted mostly of the Young Africa staff and teachers. By interviewing staff members, I gained insights on the organisational structure of the programme, the interaction of stakeholders, activities and processes of decision-making. This group also included staff from other consortium partners, such as the implementing partners IOM and READY+. Two key informants from Young Africa enabled the contact with young people in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, provided the translation during the interviews and focus groups, and supported me with explanations of local and cultural contexts.

Young people: This group consisted of Skills 2 Live beneficiaries, with an age of 18 to 24 years old. For Beira, this concerned a group of semi-urban youths who live in or near the growing city. For Chitungwiza and Epworth, these were youths living in commuting towns in the vicinity of Harare.

2.3. Sampling methods

In order to collect a wide variety of narratives on the concept of ‘inclusive development’, informants were sampled from all previously mentioned stakeholder groups. Initially, snowball sampling was used to find informants at EKN. The key informants at the embassy linked me to Young Africa, whose CEO

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put me in touch with the local project manager(s). These linked me to the key informants at the project sites, who subsequently helped me arrange interviews with beneficiaries and provided access to project activities. Hence, the recruitment of Skills 2 Live beneficiaries and staff occurred through purposive sampling, as informants were selected upon their involvement with the project.

2.4. Data collection methods

Data consisted of generated data, through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions; and naturally occurring data, through (participant) observations. A smaller body of data was collected through documentary analysis, through reviewing policy documents.

In-depth Interviews (IDIs): 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted with informants of all stakeholder groups to collect individual accounts, narratives and experiences of inclusive development. IDIs with EKN focussed on understanding informants’ perspectives on inclusive development policy and the activities through which they felt this was best embodied. Questions raised during interviews with Skills 2 Live staff were of a similar nature, however, more project-specific. Interviews with beneficiaries, however, focussed more on their experiences with the project so far; their reasons for participating; an understanding of the social and economic context they find themselves in; and their needs and goals for the project and thereafter.

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Focus Group Discussions (FGDs): Four FGDs were held with beneficiaries to study their interaction and the group dynamic. FGDs often unveil different findings from IDIs as they “display the way in which context can shape people’s views, showing how data are generated through conversation with and in the presence of others. The group context also vividly displays differences between participants” (Ritchie et al., 2014, p. 56). Indeed, it appeared that the FGDs revealed different aspects of inclusive development in addition to the IDIs. Beneficiaries shared ideas and confirmed mutual experiences, or argued over disagreements. The foci of these FGDs were on opportunities for young people, the wishes and needs of young people, youth involvement and participation.

Observations: ethnographic accounts were kept track of regularly, to understand the research topic in its natural context. It is, however, debatable to what extent observations are indeed true ‘naturally occurring data’, as my presence as a researcher, interns and/or students will have always influenced the observed setting or behaviour to some extent (see: Chapter 2.8). The foci of observations were

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interpretations, ideas and arguments surrounding inclusive development, obtained during informal conversations and meetings at EKN and Young Africa.

Document analysis: A variety of policy documents were analysed to understand the framing and discourse used around inclusive development by MFA and EKN. These include Minister Kaag’s policy note on Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (BHOS) and EKN’s Multi-Annual Country Strategy (MACS).

2.4.1. Enabling techniques

Inspired by Ritchie et al. (2014), enabling techniques I have made use of during FGDs included word association techniques, projective techniques (e.g. role-playing games) and the problem tree tool. The role-playing games functioned as great icebreakers to ease the flow of the conversation. The problem tree is a visual tool and accessible technique, which involved the active engagement of participants. During the IDIs with EKN and YA staff associative techniques were used, such as interpretations of inclusive development found in the literature7_.

2.4.2. Recording of data

IDIs and FGDs were recorded through audio-recording to store data, as audio-recording allows the researcher to engage more actively in a conversation (Ritchie et al., 2014). Permission was obtained through oral consent. Furthermore, observations were recorded through taking fieldnotes in a separate journal. I have adopted several suggestions from Ritchie et al. (2014) in the way I took track of my fieldnotes, in particular their categorization of detailed descriptions, analytical notes and subjective reflections.

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2.5. Data analysis

IDIs and FGDs were transcribed and ordered manually. Subsequently, transcriptions underwent a data selection process through the manual coding and categorisation of findings into to themes. Subsequently, through thematic data analysis links were drawn between the aforementioned categories and their relations mapped out. Inspired by Ritchie et al. (2014, p. 18), I made use of discourse analysis to unravel how and what meaning is ascribed to ‘inclusive development’; and where applicable, conversation analysis to study the interaction between different epistemological narratives.

This research made use of grounded theory as an analytical approach. I aimed to transcribe and analyse data between field visits, to let the comparison between findings and sensitizing concepts from the literature feed back into the questions for upcoming visits – a process known as the empirical cycle (Ritchie et al., 2014). Unfortunately, a programmatic delay in Skills 2 Live resulted in the postponement of field visits to the last months of my internship (See: Chapter 2.7), affecting the extent to which the empirical cycle I had envisioned was possible. Nevertheless, grounded theory was still possible to some extent: findings from various meetings and policy documents did feed back into the framing of interviewing questions prior to the field visits. Questions and methodological tools were adjusted between the field visits as well, according to first impressions and preliminary findings. This allowed for the comparison of similarities and differences between the different research sites and populations.

2.6. Ethical considerations

Ethical clearance of the research proposal was obtained through the UvA MAS programme. Additional ethical clearance by a third party was not required, as the research was arranged in agreement with both the EKN and Young Africa. Young Africa’s Child Protection Policy was signed before data collection

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commenced. Nevertheless, various ethical considerations and guidelines were adopted throughout this research.

One key ethical consideration was to ensure confidentiality, to avoid harm or undue consequences for informants. Informants were given adequate information about their participation in the research, including: the purpose of the study; my position and relation to EKN and YA; the voluntary nature of their participation; the right to withdraw at any given moment; confidentiality and anonymity; the duration of research activities; and how to contact me in case of questions or concerns. All informants gave their informed consent to participate in this research. Consent for participation and recording was obtained orally and in the case of beneficiaries, in the presence of a third person. I realized that consent is not a given and therefore checked multiple times throughout a research activity whether informants were still at ease with participating. To ensure confidentiality, all data was anonymized and made untraceable to the individual. This implied working with a coding system, such as ‘staff member 3’. Beneficiaries, however, were given pseudonyms as I felt the use of codes did not do justice to the emotion and sensitivity of the personal stories they shared. I am aware of the personal information that informants have shared. However, I believe that the data shared in this thesis has been made untraceable to the individual to avoid harm or undue consequences.

Additional ethical considerations were adopted for the IDIs with students, as this concerns a vulnerable and marginalized group, often faced with the challenges of poverty and some with (HIV/AIDS-related) stigma and discrimination. Although this research may have addressed sensitive topics, the protection of the informants was the first and foremost ethical principle of this research. Hence, I adopted guidelines to gradually ease into sensitive topics during conversations. If situations of discomfort did arise, I tried asking more indirect questions: e.g. by replacing ‘you’ with a third person (e.g. ‘your friend’ or ‘do you know anyone who…?’) or chose to skip a question.

2.7. Limitations

One limitation of this study was the language barrier in Mozambique. Its national language is Portuguese and most people’s second or third language. It is also the main language spoken at YA Mozambique. I

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invested in a language course, as it was the least I could do as a token of respect and courtesy towards the host country and host organisation. Hereby, I managed to introduce myself, engage in simple conversations and explain about my research. However, for the complexity of the IDIs and FGDs I required the help of a translator. Although working with a translator always comes with the risk of ‘losing’ content and meaning in translation, I was very pleased and grateful for his presence. He soon appeared to be a key informant and gatekeeper; and beyond a linguistic guide, also became a cultural and contextual guide. He helped me clarify certain cultural contexts, social codes and norms and values that were new to me and that, otherwise, I might have missed. In Zimbabwe, a translator was also present. Although students did speak English fluently, they sometimes preferred to explain specific things in Shona. In both cases, translators were part of the YA team, which has been enabling in terms of information and contacts, but may have also influenced our relationship to the informants as well as their responses.

Another obstacle encountered was a delay in the start of the Skills 2 Live programme, which affected the timeline of my research. Programmatic hiccups and technical problems resulted in the delay of the launch of the pilot project, which was rescheduled from the start of July 2019 to late-August. This resulted in the postponement of my field visits to September. Consequentially, the case study became limited to the starting phase of the project. Hence, to make the most of my time at EKN, the research questions were reviewed and adjusted according to the situation.

2.8. Reflexivity and positionality

“No data are entirely ‘untouched by human hands’” (Ritchie et al., 2014, p. 54). Ritchie et al. describe how qualitative data is always influenced by the presence of the researcher, their backgrounds, their beliefs, their position and their behaviour. Hence, a few positional aspects of this research and my position at EKN should be born in mind.

A first challenge was the coordination between internship activities and research activities. I was wearing ‘two hats’: that of the intern and that of the researcher. This was rather difficult, as in a place where I began to feel more and more at home, this sometimes made me feel that I was dealing

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with a double agenda. I wanted to gather enough data to be able to write a quality thesis by the end of my internship. Meanwhile, I also aimed to engage in as many internship activities as possible at the embassy, as it was a great learning opportunity. Fortunately, together with my internship supervisor, we maintained a level of transparency which worked for the both of us, and EKN gave me sufficient time, space and resources for conducting fieldwork and writing.

Another positional challenge was my affiliation with EKN, the donor organisation to the project under study. On the one hand, this enabled me with access to resources, contacts and information needed to carry out this research. On the other hand, my affiliation with EKN and status, may have influenced the research findings. As EKN funds the project, there are implicit power relations between the different stakeholders that partook in this research. Hence, this position may have influenced my relationship with YA staff and students, in terms of requests, desirable answers or a ‘professional distance’. However, I aimed to minimize this by making a strong effort to introduce myself first and foremost as a student and young adult, rather than an affiliate of EKN; and to stick to this role e.g. by ‘dressing down’ during field visits or adjusting my language. With the students, this came naturally as they were of a similar age as myself, often only two or three years younger.

Nevertheless, the truth is that when conducting research with these youths certain inequalities remain. Regardless of our age, it would be naïve to rely on this comparison as a means to identify myself with the informants. Previous stays in developing countries have made me aware of my position as a Northern European student of a relatively privileged background, who got the opportunity to travel, work for a donor organisation, and conduct research in a foreign country – and as a woman. These are educational, financial and cultural opportunities and privileges that these young people have not had access to and perhaps some may never will. Hence, regardless of profiling myself as a young person, I was aware that these inequalities exist and how they create a certain power imbalance between myself as a researcher and the group of young people I interviewed. I have tried to reflect upon this throughout the research and the conversations by being mindful, humble and respectful towards the beneficiaries. For me, this stressed the importance of carrying out this study with great carefulness and rigour.

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3. Inclusiveness in the view of EKN

“On Monday mornings we start our week with a general staff meeting, where the whole team of 27 is present. It is a pop-corn style meeting, held in Portuguese so that all staff can follow (or practice the language), and where everyone can contribute. Regardless of function, age or nationality, all staff are part of the team, and all have an important role to play. We discuss upcoming events or summarize fieldtrips. Every now and then, jokes are made and the team bursts out in laughter. During lunch, we sit together in the canteen and catch up about the weekend. I think moments like these are great reflections of the atmosphere at the embassy: not too hierarchical, open and friendly. For me, this has played a great role it how comfortable I felt in approaching the staff with curious and critical questions about their work.” (fieldnotes)

Interviews were held with four informants: Staff member 1 and 4 were a Dutch woman and man in overseeing positions; our conversations were on the overall package of EKN. Staff member 2 and 3 were Dutch and Mozambican women with whom I worked closely in the SRHR sector; our conversations were more theme and programme-specific. Conversations aimed at understanding the staff’s interpretation of inclusivity and how they felt inclusive development was embodied within their work8_.

According to staff member 1, who has worked for MFA for 30 years, Minister Kaag from BHOS would have ‘an eye for inclusivity’ and has made strong efforts to put the theme on the Ministry’s agenda, as defined through its policies. Subsequently, it would be EKN’s task to translate this to practice. In doing so, EKN uses a thematic approach through the division of development cooperation into thematic sectors, that each address specific elements of inclusive development. The following sections address a number of these elements.

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3.1. ‘Opportunities and potential’

My first question to all informants, ‘what does inclusive development mean to you?’, brought up two themes. It would have to do with (1) enhancing people’s opportunities in life and (2) the chance to develop their potential. According to staff member 1, every person should have an opportunity to participate in the society:

“However, some do get these chances and others do not, and it should not be the case that you get the chance because you have the money, or because you’re physically healthy, or because you’re a man, or because of the colour of your skin, or because you practice a certain religion… That should not play a role in a person’s development in society.”

In line with this sentiment, a majority of the projects at EKN appeared to aim at enabling such opportunities. Staff described this through discourse such as ‘empowerment’, ‘to get on your feet’ and the right to be ‘a full-fledged citizen’ (‘een volwaardig burger’). In the Multi-Annual Country Strategy (MACS, 2019, p. 18), this is illustrated through EKN’s new ‘integrated approach’: an expansion of the portfolio with activities related to the economic empowerment of vulnerable groups, with a focus on young people; through offering vocational skills training and SRH information and services. Projects such as Skills 2 Live reflect this approach (see: Chapter 4 and 5).

Both BHOS (MFA, 2018) and EKN appear to adopt a human rights-based approach (HRBA) to inclusive development policies. According to staff, inclusive development would be all about rights and justice: the right to participate in the society, the right to develop oneself and in particular, one’s potential.

“Everyone has the right to fully develop themselves. Personally, I find nothing as upsetting as when someone cannot develop their full potential.” – Staff member 1

The second staff member added an economic lens to ‘potential’. She described that a society can only “bloom” if everyone is allowed to participate, by making use of the capacity that people have to offer. Summing up the above, she argued that inclusive development has “a rights component, an economic

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component and of course also a social component,” and be applicable to culture, class, environment, health sexual orientation, ethnicity, and much more. As it is such a broad theme, different approaches and angles can be taken to bringing about inclusive development. For example, according to the fourth informant, such approaches may consist of establishing requirements, giving tools, influencing law and legislation, or providing an enabling environment:

“We try to set certain requirements, but it’s the people themselves who have to do it. We can give them the tools. We can also try to intervene in other ways (more top-down) by influencing laws, to create an environment that is more inclusive, that offers more opportunities (…). it’s about access to services (like access to water), but it’s also about education of skills (…) about influencing a favourable climate in terms of rules and laws.”

In terms of access, he reflected on access to education, knowledge or skills. For example, Skills 2 Live’s focus would be on improving young people’s access to participation in society through vocational education. It would be about increasing their chances, opportunities and involvement in society through ‘a push in the back’. The other informants reflected that inclusive development can also be about challenging oppressive or stigmatizing cultural norms and values, that limit the participation in society of certain groups. Examples were given of stigma and taboo in Mozambique, around sexuality, sexual orientation, gender-based violence (GBV) and HIV/AIDS.

3.2. ‘Leaving no one behind’

Staff member 2, who has worked for the Ministry since several years and used to work for UNAIDS, reflected that elements of inclusive development have always existed in the Netherlands’ development policies. What is new, however, are target group-specific policies (‘doelgroepenbeleid’). In the past, Ministry’s focus would have been on creating an ‘enabling environment’ to benefit the general population; rather that to reach specific target groups.

In several MFA and EKN documents and all interviews, the principle of ‘leaving no one behind’ came up. The MACS (2019) describes how EKN has tailored its regional programme to contribute to

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this principle. In interviews with staff, this principle was applied to address the in- and exclusion of specific social groups. It was usually discussed in terms of target groups9_{and/or key populations (KPs)}10 and concerned marginalized groups that have been “excluded from development”. These groups consisted mostly of youths, women and girls. Furthermore, the regional programme would make additional efforts for the inclusion of stigmatized groups. These would concern populations that are neglected, ignored or even oppressed by the local government and/or “those groups that other donors don’t want to take responsibility for” (staff member 2), such as sex workers, sexual minorities and migrants. EKN would be one of the few donors reaching out to these populations, e.g. through the projects of IOM, Aidsfonds, UNDP and READY+ (See: appendix 2). The regional programme’s Theory of Change (ToC) describes the challenges that these groups encounter with respect to SRHR and HIV/AIDS, and addresses both their direct, underlying and structural causes (EKN, 2016).

A cross-cutting goal across all sectors would be the inclusion of women and girls, also referred to as gender-mainstreaming (MFA, 2018; MACS, 2019). At EKN, this implies that all projects contain at least one aspect related to gender, and that “all activities should give women more of a say in project formulation” (staff member 2). Furthermore, the MACS (2019) describes the role of diplomacy in promoting gender equality, through advocacy on themes such as preventing child marriage or promoting safe abortion. It also encourages women’s economic empowerment through female entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, staff members reflected that there is room for improvement. For example, the overarching goal could be made more concrete within interventions.

The analysis of policy documents and interviews illustrates how ‘leaving no one behind’ as a concept of the SDGs, was adopted by the Minister into the BHOS policy (MFA, 2018), subsequently integrated into EKN’s strategy for Mozambique (MACS, 2019) and now endorsed in the regional programme. Logically, my next question would be: what remains of this principle on-the-ground? Staff indicated that it is going well in terms of the inclusion of target groups through EKN’s activities.

9_{In general}

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Nevertheless, they also emphasized that inclusive development also concerns awareness of whom might be (unintentionally) excluded or ‘left behind’:

“You have to make sure that you don’t do something by which you exclude other groups. So, it’s important to really think through: ‘what does that mean for…?’ and ‘does that not have indirect effects on…?’ I think it’s a personal enrichment, though! If you have the courage to look at ‘what does it mean what I do?’ (…) That’s incredibly interesting! But people also find it complicated (…) It asks for self-reflection. (…) I think we should interrogate ourselves even more.” – Staff member 1

In terms of ‘leaving behind’, the third staff member, a policy officer of Mozambican nationality, reflected on the geographical scale of the country. EKN’s coverage would be small and its focus relatively urban, whilst most of the population lives in rural areas. However, the country’s size and low population density make it difficult to reach remote areas. The issue was also felt in the regional programme, where the scale of interventions would often be limited to only two-three sites per country. Furthermore, staff reflected on target populations that are not (yet) reached through EKN’s interventions. These include people with disabilities, people with albinism, (young) children, people working in the informal sector and prisoners:

“It’s not that we’re actively excluding them, but we also don’t have a specific policy for people living with a physical or mental disability. You’ll never consciously exclude them and you will always try to prevent disadvantaging them, but we’re also not pro-actively improving their inclusion.” – Staff member 1.

Nevertheless, staff indicated little opportunity to involve them in activities, as the “budget is not big” (staff member 2), the bilateral health programme is phasing out and decisions have to be made accordingly. Another group not reached are LGBTI+. None of EKN’s SRHR projects have made a visible impact for this specific group as of yet. However, if successful, the UNDP programme (see: Appendix 2) could have the potential to do so.

‘Leaving no one behind’ : a study on the conceptualization and operationalization of inclusive development through the (SRHR) activities of the embassy of the Netherlands in Maputo, Mozambique