During the experience, participants deepened their knowledge of topics such as Climate Justice and Gender Justice through joint activities with students, local authorities, civil society organisations and diplomatic representatives. The initiative aimed to mobilise young people to commit to addressing global challenges, to learn about ecofeminist projects, to strengthen cooperation with local authorities and to encourage the creation of future campaigns and projects in their home countries.
The first stage of the initiative took place in Portugal on 22 August, when participants gathered at the Lisbon Youth Centre of the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ) for a first day of training and team building, before travelling to Mozambique, where the main phase of the International Camp ran from 23 August to 5 September 2026.
Over the course of two weeks, the group travelled through different Mozambican cities and communities, combining institutional meetings, community action and moments of collective reflection. The journey began in Chibuto, where on 25 August the programme got under way with the round table "Mozambican and European young people together for the climate and gender agenda," held with around twenty students from the Chibuto Higher School of Business and Entrepreneurship (ESNEC) of Eduardo Mondlane University and dedicated to sharing experiences and ecofeminist group activities.
This was followed the next day by a round table with secondary school students from six schools in Chibuto district, a total of eighteen participants comprising teachers and students, for whom sessions on gender issues and climate change were facilitated.
The day of 27 August was dedicated to the Escolinhas Comunitárias, schools where Itinerant Early Childhood Education takes place every day, outdoors, based on learning through Nature. That day, the young people, split into two groups, ran activities, including leading a reading of the book "The Little Prince" with the children of the Escolinhas Comunitárias in Bairro 25 de Junho, units 2 and 4. In the afternoon, the round table "Women in Politics in Chibuto: challenges and opportunities of gender issues in local government" was held with representatives of the district government and women community leaders, in a moment of reflection on the challenges faced by women in the region.
On 28 August, the day was dedicated to organising the Chibuto Municipal Library, which was closed, with the young people helping to arrange and catalogue the books as preparatory work for its future reopening.
On 30 August, the group left for Macaneta, where they spent the day with the REPENSAR association, learning about its work with the community. The visit also included a field trip to Macaneta's coastal ecosystems, namely the beach, dunes, mangrove forest and estuary, and a beach clean-up, raising awareness of the region's environmental challenges.
This was followed, on 31 August, by a trip to Manhiça, where the group visited a shelter for victims of domestic violence. There, they were welcomed by MULEIDE and the local community, and also met with women's rights activists.
Back in Maputo, the morning of 1 September featured a round table at the Camões Portuguese Cultural Centre in Maputo, with representatives of Portuguese Cooperation, namely Helena Guerreiro and Raquel Oliveira, who presented the work Portuguese Cooperation carries out in Mozambique. Also present at the meeting was Fernando Cau, a member of the UN Women team in Mozambique, who outlined the challenges women face in the country.
In the afternoon, there was a session with UN-Habitat on resilient buildings, which addressed the importance of this type of construction and the role of women in building their own homes.
On 2 September, the group met with Girl Move Academy to learn about its project for the empowerment of young women and, in the afternoon, had a meeting with the Be Girl project, dedicated to menstrual dignity and education, where period poverty was discussed.
The programme closed on 3 September with an illustration workshop with the artist Ventura Mulalene which, as the closing activity of the International Camp, focused on reflecting on the week the participants had experienced and on their emotions.
The International Camp went beyond an experience of sharing and training among a group of young people of different nationalities: it also gave them a deep cultural and social immersion in the realities of Mozambique, through direct contact with local communities, institutions and projects working for climate and gender justice.
This activity is part of the project "Ecoality: Young People and Local Authorities Together for Climate and Gender Justice," implemented in Portugal by AIDGLOBAL in partnership with Loures City Council and co-funded by the European Union and by Camões – Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, I.P.
