Universidade Católica de Mocambique – the Catholic University of Mozambique – began as a bishop’s dream.
Dom Jaime Pedro Gonçalves, Archbishop of Beira, dreamt of setting up a university that would provide a quality education to all young Mozambicans. While his fellow bishops thought this was unachievable, the head of a local construction company was a true believer, and offered to help renovate the university building.
Dom Jaime’s university opened its doors in August 1996. Split across several sites, the university’s headquarters are in Beira, a coastal city in the geographical centre of Mozambique.
The university has 10 faculties, ranging from engineering, forest and wildlife resources management and agronomic sciences to education, social and political sciences and tourism management and informatics.
The university takes an active role in combating HIV-Aids in the community and providing education on reproductive health. Student activities tend to be motivated by social conscience: they are divided into categories that include education, health and human rights and justice.
