Cultural Policy of Mozambique and corresponding Implementation Strategy
1. Definition
The Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique establishes the principle whereby the State shall
promote the development of the character and culture of Mozambique and shall guarantee free
expression of the traditions and values of Mozambican society. The Government’s FiveYear Plan
reaffirms the value of culture and the need to create the conditions for greater creative, free,
democratic participation by each individual and by civil society as a whole, together with respect for
the diversity of religious beliefs and ethnic origins.
Culture may be defined as a complex set of ways of being, behaving and relating from birth to
death, including the rituals that mark the main stages in the process of social integration and
socialization. Culture encompasses the following: creative aspects; the visual and performing arts;
material aspects: clothing, architecture and work tools; institutional aspects: economic, social,
political and military structures; philosophical aspects: ideas, beliefs and values. All these aspects are
continually interacting with new situations and experiences. Culture must therefore be understood as
the totality of the way of life of a people or a community.
The Government acknowledges the role of culture as a decisive factor in the character of
Mozambican people and considers its development to be a fundamental element in the consolidation
of national unity and of individual and group identity.
State intervention in terms of cultural development shall be guided by a Cultural Policy based on
the presuppositions reflected in the Constitution of the Republic, the Cultural Heritage Law, the
recommendations of the First National Conference on Culture and the Government’s FiveYear Plan
for the cultural sector, as well as in experiences of governance in Mozambique and throughout the
world.
The Cultural Policy is a tool that regulates the activities of the Government with regard to its links
with the other actors involved in the promotion and development of culture.
The aim of the Cultural Policy is to guide the activities of all in contributing to the cohesion and
the psychological and social equilibrium of communities, as well as to the integration of their
members. The Government’s Cultural Policy constitutes a contribution to the definition of what it
means to be Mozambican as reflected in the heritage of all our citizens.
2. Principles and goals of the Cultural Policy
2.1. Principles
The Cultural Policy is based on the acceptance and application of the following principles:
a) economic and social development shall have culture as a mandatory and fixed point of
departure and reference point. Development will be sustainable only if it has men and
women as its primary and end beneficiaries;
b) culture is a key instrument for affirming and developing national identity;
c) all citizens have an equal right to take part in cultural life and to enjoy access to the benefits of
culture and art;
d) cultural cooperation with other peoples shall be based on interdependence between States,
irrespective of their political or ideological systems;
e) through international cultural cooperation, all peoples, nations and agencies shall contribute to
the creation of a better world, a world of peace, wellbeing and mutual understanding and
respect.
2.2. Objectives
2.2.1. Overall objectives