For Madalena Moniz, the path to peace and security began with curiosity. At 23, the Pemba-born graduate in International Relations and Diplomacy is serving as Project Manager with DIMONGO, one of the civil society partners implementing the Resilient Investment for Socio-Economic Empowerment, Peace and Security (RISE-PS) Project in Cabo Delgado. She also serves as the focal point for Family Planning 2030. 

Before taking on this role, Madalena worked for several years in reproductive health. Her interest in peace and security emerged later, during university, after a course sparked a curiosity that stayed with her. That curiosity eventually became a professional direction. 

When the opportunity to join RISE-PS came, Madalena saw it as an avenue to deepen her understanding of peace and security, build on her experience working with young people and communities, and grow into a role where she could contribute directly to change in her province. 

Since 2017, Cabo Delgado has endured years of violence and instability that have claimed an estimated 4,500 lives, displaced more than one million people and destroyed more than 4,900 local businesses. For young people and women, the challenges are particularly acute. Youth unemployment stands at 25 per cent, while a significant proportion of young people are neither employed, in education nor in training. Adolescent pregnancy and early marriage also remain major challenges. Behind these figures are communities trying to rebuild their lives and young people trying to imagine futures that can sometimes feel uncertain. 

It is in this context that RISE-PS is helping create pathways towards greater opportunity, resilience, and inclusion. 

Financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) with co-funding from the Government of Mozambique and UNDP, RISE-PS brings together infrastructure rehabilitation, livelihoods support, private sector development and institutional strengthening. Across Palma and Ancuabe districts, it aims to create 24,000 jobs, three-quarters of them for young people, and to reach more than 100,000 beneficiaries. 

For Madalena, however, the impact of the project is beyond the numbers. 

She experiences it through the people she works with every day: registering beneficiaries, supporting implementation, coordinating local focal points, and helping ensure that activities are translated from plans into action. Madalena has discovered a renewed sense of purpose. 

"In other programmes I felt like a mere activist, but in the RISE-PS project I feel like part of the change and the process, and that I will grow a great deal," she says. 

She is building her capacity as a leader. She is gaining proficiency in people management, learning how to work with people from different backgrounds and levels of experience, while keeping the project's objectives firmly connected to the needs of the communities it serves. 

That is not always easy. Some young people selected as local focal points have little previous experience and initially struggle to lead the working groups entrusted to them. Women's participation has also been limited in some communities, with stigma and social barriers making it harder for women to engage. 

For Madalena and her colleagues, these challenges are not reasons to step back. They are part of the work. Through awareness-raising and engagement with both women and men, the project is working to create greater space for women’s participation and for young people to take on meaningful roles within their communities. 

She wants to see greater investment in quality education and stronger advocacy for young people so they can gain experience, confidence, and skills to shape their own futures. Her vision is straightforward: young people with real work experience, peace felt across every community, and better basic services for everyone. And for other young people in Cabo Delgado who may be searching for their own path, her message is equally direct: "Stay resilient and seize every opportunity. Let's do everything for ourselves."

This year's International Youth Day theme, “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations,” captures something at the heart of Madalena’s journey. Her path may be uniquely shaped by Cabo Delgado, but the aspiration behind it is universal: the chance to learn, to grow, to contribute, and to have a meaningful stake in the future. Madalena followed a curiosity that began in a university classroom and found an opportunity to turn it into purpose. Today, she is helping other young people do the same.

Read more: 

• LinkedIn: UNDP Pemba Sub-Office Signs Agreements with 6 Civil Society Organizations
• Press Release: AfDB and UNDP Join Mozambique in Launching Flagship Project to Support Post‑Conflict Recovery and Economic Empowerment