She was addressing students of one of the country's private universities, the Mozambique Higher Institute of Science and Technology (ISCTEM), where she delivered a speech on "The Challenges of Qualified Women and Self-Employment".
Machel insisted young Mozambican women must demand equal rights with men and the recognition of their competence. "Women must be able to say 'I am, 'I want', and 'I can'", she stressed.
She admitted that there is still a long way to go to reach this stage, because there are many aspects of Mozambican culture that are long out-of-date.
"We're living in the 21st century, but it's as if Mozambique were still in the 18th century", she exclaimed. "We still have a pre-industrial society in terms of behaviour".
She argued that such behaviour, for instance, leads people migrating from the rural areas to "ruralize" the cities, instead of them becoming urbanized.
Machel added that in most Mozambican families, parents put more pressure on girls than on boys. "It is within this set of behaviors, and knowing their rights, that young Mozambican women must stand up for themselves", she said.
Machel noted "a further challenge is that the introduction of women to the labour market is a recent phenomenon, and it is as if women were invading new areas, and they must show competence to gain that space".
She encouraged students to dedicate themselves to research, both of Mozambican society and of the country's potential. "If you study Mozambique, not just Maputo, you will find that it is still virgin, and any seed you sow here will germinate", said Machel.
SOURCE: AIM
