Locations“Paving the Way for Mozambique’s Future”
Exploring future partnerships, a system thinking based approach!
UNDP/Mario Chilundo
Author: Mário Chilundo, Head of Experimentation
Co-Author: Julieta Massango, Head of Exploration
Co-Author: Alexandra Antunes, Head of Solutions Mapping
Co-Author: Rebecca Navega, Communication Specialist
What and who?
In a conventional meeting room in Maputo, about forty people stood together, in a non-conventional way. Each one is holding a piece of thread linking them to one another. They represent a diverse group of institutions, including government agencies, UNDP, NGOs, and Mozambican civil society. Slowly, as the threads formed a vibrant web, participants start recognizing the power of their complementary interconnectedness. “We are all connected,” someone observes.
On December 16, 2024, UNDP invited its partners to participate in a unique and engaging seminar, aiming to tackle a pressing question: How can we collectively tackle the Mozambique’s infrastructure maintenance needs?
Participants in the seminar
UNDP/Mario Chilundo
UNDP serves as a thought leader, working alongside the Government of Mozambique to find innovative solutions to complex national challenges. Infrastructure plays a crucial role in ensuring Mozambique stays on the path toward sustainable development by addressing essential needs such as healthcare, education, social housing, and supporting vulnerable communities. During the one-day seminar on the UNDP Resilient Infrastructure Portfolio, partners leveraged collective intelligence, highlighting the urgent necessity to adapt infrastructure to climate change and embed sustainable practices resilient enough to withstand future challenges.
Key highlights
The discussions at the seminar revolved around innovative solutions for health, education, and social housing infrastructure, emphasizing the need for climate adaptability and sustainable maintenance practices. Participants actively exchanged ideas on building awareness of infrastructure maintenance strategies, creating resilient communities, leveraging digital technologies, and maximizing the value of public-private partnerships.
Opening the dialogue, UNDP Resident Representative Edo Stork introduced a transformative approach set to shape UNDP’s work in Mozambique—the Portfolio approach. Stork explained that the complexity of Mozambique’s challenges has demanded UNDP to adopt more innovative and dynamic methodologies, emphasizing collaboration across diverse partners and applying a systems-thinking perspective. Systems thinking involves understanding how different components interact within a larger system, focusing not on isolated issues but on the relationships, feedback loops, and dynamics, shaping the entire system's behaviour over time.
“At UNDP Mozambique, we strongly believe that promoting systems thinking and adopting the Portfolio approach creates an environment capable of addressing complex challenges,” explained Edo Stork. Echoing the spirit of collaboration, Sofia dos Santos, National Director for Housing from the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, highlighted the critical need to prepare Mozambican infrastructure to withstand extreme climate events, ensuring long-term reliability and consistent access to essential public services.
“The Portfolio initiative led by UNDP, the Government, and our partners is designed precisely to improve regulatory frameworks and reinforce mechanisms for infrastructure maintenance,” she noted.
Engaging Sessions and Active Participation
Throughout the seminar, participants explored potential partnerships to address the government’s identified needs, turning strong networks into concrete actions.
“World Cafe”, mapping solutions for infrastructure maintenance
UNDP/Mario Chilundo
The aim was clear: promote strategic stakeholders’ partnerships to enhance technical capacity, including the private sector, mobilize financial resources to support the sustainability and maintenance of public infrastructure, strengthen the government's technical capacity for strategic planning, implement sustainable infrastructure maintenance policies, foster community engagement to enhance social inclusion, and leveraging digital platforms to disseminate best maintenance practices.
At UNDP Mozambique, we strongly believe that promoting systems thinking and adopting the Portfolio approach creates an environment capable of addressing complex challengesEdo Stork, UNDP Mozambique Resident Representative
Sharing reflections on the integration of digital solutions and innovations in the maintenance of health, education and social housing infrastructure.
UNDP/Mario Chilundo
A Landmark for the Future
As the event wrapped up, the spirit of connection and empowerment visible in the thread-network remained vibrant. Investing in systems thinking emerged as a shared commitment—a pathway toward significantly improving Mozambique’s national infrastructure and the lives of its people.
Sharing reflections on the integration of digital solutions and innovations in the maintenance of health, education and social housing infrastructure.
UNDP/Mario Chilundo
