Namati is thrilled to share that Namati Moçambique is now Matimba, a fully independent organization dedicated to ensuring quality, dignified healthcare for every Mozambican.
For more than 13 years, Namati’s health justice program in Mozambique built a movement of grassroots health advocates who work alongside communities and health workers to help patients claim their rights, demand better care, and reshape health systems. Namati Moçambique, registered as a national organization, carried out this work with considerable autonomy, including its own leadership, funders, and partners. Now, Matimba will lead every aspect of its work as an independent organization.
“What Namati is today was built in part by Namati Moçambique,” said Vivek Maru, Founder and CEO at Namati. “The Mozambique team was one of Namati’s founding teams, and has been at the core of our journey as an organization.”
Matimba comes from Changana, a language spoken in southern Mozambique. “Matimba means strength, and that’s what we see every day in the communities and health workers with whom we work: a mother who speaks up about how she was treated in labor, a health committee that advocates for access to essential medicines and running water for a rural clinic, a nurse who wants to give better care. Our name now comes from the communities we serve. Our commitment to stand with them hasn’t changed,” explained Nadja Gomes, Co-Founder and Co-Director at Matimba.
As Namati Moçambique, Matimba’s health advocates helped resolve more than 80,000 barriers to care, supported more than 80 community-based organizations, trained more than 20,000 health workers, and helped establish humanized childbirth standards protecting women in 492 health facilities. Matimba will continue to help communities know, use, and shape the law, partnering with Namati as opportunities arise.
“Our team has always led this work from Mozambique, and we’ve been proud to do it as part of Namati,” added Ellie Feinglass, Co-Founder and Co-Director at Matimba. “Becoming Matimba honors that history. We’re grateful for our years together, and we’re excited for what comes next.”
For more information, visit Matimba’s website: https://matimbahealth.org/.