shorten the paragraph, to 50 words, "Since the study was limited to urban areas, the results may not apply to rural areas. Future studies could investigate perspectives from both urban and rural areas to determine the most effective strategy for developing and implementing DSMES. The Mozambique focus groups were conducted with a translator, which could have led to bias. Yet, the presence of Portuguese-speaking researchers in the team mitigated any language-related issues. While snowball sampling helped us recruit all identified groups and recognize its potential limitations, such as the small representation of stakeholders and HCPs. Further research into the needs and challenges of stakeholders and HCPs could help overcome additional obstacles to DSMES implementation. The selection of both countries was based on existing partnerships, but our findings reveal both unique and shared traits regarding the implementation of the EXTEND DSMES program