The head of the department, Cyril Melchior, met on Tuesday, March 8, David Ezo, the Ambassador of France to Mozambique.
During this fruitful exchange, many issues were discussed.
President Cyril Melchior first noted that the ministry has been cooperating with Mozambique for nearly 25 years. The first major action relates to the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in 1998. The community then signed a cultural cooperation agreement with the Government of Mozambique focusing primarily on the cultural field.
Since then, the department has implemented measures related to culture, education and sports jointly with federations and regional commissions.
After a respite, due to the health crisis, President Melchior expressed his desire to resume the cooperation procedures between Mozambique and Reunion.
He therefore proposed reactivating a permanent cooperation agreement on topics related to culture, education and sports as well as the economy, particularly agriculture, in cooperation with our local partners who are experts in this field.
Regarding education, he highlighted the influence of France and Francophonie in Mozambique. With this in mind, it has been proposed to set up an exchange of French and Portuguese teachers jointly with the Académie de Reunion. Under this future programme, it will be possible for French teachers in Mozambique to improve their skills, and likewise integrate the Portuguese language in Reunion colleges. This language, in fact, is spoken by several million people around the world (Brazil, Portugal, Angola, etc.) and, of course, in Mozambique.
“The reunion and Mozambique, through a common part of history, have always been close. New partnerships, especially in the cultural field, will allow the implementation of such great achievements as the collection of knowledge on the history of the slave trade for the future Housing and Slavery Museum, and the enrichment of the digital images of the International Housing Institute … Today, it is necessary to relaunch a partnership in the most promising areas of reunification and Mozambique. That is why I proposed to the ambassador to be the spokesperson for the Mozambican government so that a new sustainable cooperation agreement is drawn up as soon as possible, “said Cyril Melchior.
