Attachments
1. General Context
Since 29th of April 2025, the localities of Mbamba and Macalange in Mecula District have experienced attacks by Non-State Armed Groups (NSAGs), triggering widespread displacement. Families began arriving in Mecula Sede shortly after the violence began, seeking safety from the growing insecurity as confirmed by the local authorities.
As of 6th May 2025, a total of 405 households, amounting to 1,537 individuals, had been registered as newly displaced in the district. The District Planning and Infrastructure Service (SDPI) designated the school “Escola Básica 16 de Junho” as a transit/service reception centre to temporarily accommodate those without shelter, while other solutions were being considered and explored. Of the displaced, 119 households (458 individuals) were being hosted at the school, while 286 households (1,079 individuals) found refuge with relatives and members of the host community. Humanitarian actors, including the District Planning and Infrastructure Service (SDPI), the National Institute for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction (INGD), International Organization for Migration (Camp Coordination and Camp Management - CCCM and the Displacement Tracking Matrix - DTM), identified pressing needs for food assistance, non-food items (NFIs), improved sanitation, psychosocial support, and shelter materials, stressing the urgency of coordinated response efforts.
Preceded by the attacks on the 29th of April 2025 in Mbamba locality, on the 12th and 16th May, additional attacks took place in Macalange locality, further exacerbating the displacement crisis. During monitoring and engagement activities in the transit/service reception centre, Régulo Macanga – the traditional leader of Macalange, flagged to CCCM teams that all 198 households (1,750 individuals) from his community had relocated to Mecula Sede.
In addition, stated that “while no shelters were burned or destroyed during the most recent incidents, many homes had their doors and windows smashed, contributing to the fear and urgency with which residents fled. In the chaos, many were unable to bring belongings and arrived with nothing. He also expressed concern over the lack of basic items such as kitchen sets, buckets, mosquito nets and blankets. Despite the instability, there is a strong desire among the displaced to return home as soon as the security situation allows and with clear instruction from the government”.
Some of the displaced staying with host families continued to rely on the transit/service reception centre for daily meals, returning to their temporary homes each evening. However, complaints have emerged that food distributions are insufficient to meet everyone's needs.
The district government planned as first line to begin relocating families from Escola Básica 16 de Junho transit/service reception centre to the newly established Culatando temporary accommodation center on the afternoon of Wednesday, 21 May.
While the exact number of families residing in the transit centre remained uncertain, however, SDPI and INGD were actively conducting registration efforts and in parallel, CCCM and DTM teams were supporting with verification exercises to ensure that all displaced households are accurately captured, documented (data disaggregated by sex, age, vulnerabilities) and able to access the necessary assistance upon arrival.
Based on the assessments conducted, the government anticipated relocating approximately 175 households (625 individuals) to the new site, accounting for all arrivals registered up to 17 May (figures related only to the transit/service reception centre) but only 30 families (110 individuals) were confirmed in Culatando Accommodation Center and 191 families (736 individuals) in the host community as of Friday, May 23, 2025.
However, the scale of need may expand as more displaced families at the host communities express interest in moving to the temporary accommodation center, highlighting the urgency of inter-agency coordination and rapid resource mobilization.