Building Momentum for VPs Implementation in Mozambique
From 8–12 December 2025, DCAF and its partner, the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD), co-organised a VPI multistakeholder mission to Maputo and Pemba. The delegation brought together the VPI Secretariat, representatives of the Governments of Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, VPI member NGOs and the International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA). Meetings with representatives of the ministries of Justice and Defence, the Governor of Cabo Delgado, the National Human Rights Commission, extractive companies, private security providers and civil society organisations helped rebuild momentum with Mozambique’s new administration and establish direct relationships between national decision-makers and international VPI members. The mission also helped clarify the complementarity between Mozambique’s existing National Action Plan (NAP) on Business and Human Rights and its forthcoming VPs NAP. The Swiss Ambassador’s engagement throughout the visit gave strong visibility to Switzerland’s support. The VPI’s account of the mission highlighted Mozambique’s renewed commitment to implementing the VPs and advancing work to developing a NAP.
The mission also launched a more structured national dialogue on private security governance. A dedicated conference on 9 December brought government institutions, private security companies, corporate clients and civil society together to discuss regulatory gaps, professional standards, working conditions and accountability. This dialogue built on consultations held separately with private security providers and civil society and informed the development, with ICoCA, of a coordination roadmap for different initiatives working on private security governance. The roadmap provides a common reference for aligning and sequencing the work of the different initiatives active in this field, while also feeding recommendations for the VPs NAP. ICoCA published an overview of the joint work under the headline “Advancing Accountable Private Security in Mozambique”.
Mozambique’s high-level engagement continued at the VPI Annual Plenary meeting in London from 24-26 March 2026, to which participated an important delegation from the Mozambican government, with support from DCAF. Most notably, the Minister of Justice led a wider Mozambican delegation and addressed the plenary, signalling continued political commitment and broadening ownership of the VPs agenda across government institutions.
The most significant policy achievement was the completion of a "Draft Zero" of Mozambique’s NAP on the VPs for the period 2026-2030. Following the appointment of a new national consultant, an experienced human-rights expert and former Chair of the National Human Rights Commission, an extensive consultation process took place during April and May. Consultations took place in Maputo and the key provinces for business, security and human rights: Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Tete and Manica. Consultations reached 318 participants from 71 institutions and stakeholder groups, including government and security institutions, extractive companies, private security providers, civil society organisations and communities living in the vicinity of extractive sites. A national validation meeting was held in Maputo on 23 June, after which stakeholder comments were incorporated into a revised 2026-2030 draft structured around ten strategic areas, an operational matrix, budget and a monitoring framework. The Mozambique NAP "Draft Zero" has therefore advanced significantly to a nationally-consulted policy framework now undergoing final review and approval process. The "Draft Zero" addresses priorities such as training and the use of force, accessible grievance mechanisms, community participation, land and natural-resource conflicts, private security regulation and the protection of vulnerable groups.
