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EU and Austrian Development Cooperation provide 1.6 million Euro to increase resilience and adaptation to climate change

Maputo, 1 August 2016. The European Union and the Austrian Development Cooperation have provided a consortium of international organizations working in Mozambique with 1.6 million Euro to help vulnerable communities adapt to climate change and increase their resilience. Mozambique is experiencing its worst drought in 35 years as a result of the El Niño weather phenomenon. Nearly two million people are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

The COSACA consortium includes the international humanitarian organizations CARE, CONCERN WORLDWIDE, Save the Children and Oxfam. The consortium delivers emergency assistance such as food to people affected by the drought. Their aim is to ensure that 500,000 people have access to food and safe water and to help communities become more resilience in the face of climate change. To date, international support to address the needs has been low, with less than a third of needs currently being met.

“The European Union is committed to helping Mozambicans severely affected by one of the worst dry spells in recent history. This funding will allow our partners in Mozambique to provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance and strengthen the resilience of the communities affected by El Niño,” says Peter Burgess, Head of Regional Office of the European Commission's humanitarian aid and civil protection department (ECHO).

In parallel the agencies are working to increase the resilience of disaster-prone communities in Mozambique. “We cannot wait until people lose everything during the next drought, cyclone or flood. The better communities are prepared, the less vulnerable they are when disaster strikes,” says Cathy Riley, Assistant Country Director of CARE in Mozambique.

Due to its geographical location, Mozambique is prone to a wide range of natural disasters, regularly causing significant damage and exacerbating poverty. “Our aim is to improve early warning systems and build broader preparedness, especially for women and children, who are usually hit hardest,” says Peter McNichol from CONCERN. The organizations will work with key actors such as local community bodies responsible for disaster risk reduction and early warning systems in particularly vulnerable districts in Zambezia and Nampula. The funding will help ensure that vulnerable households can protect their livelihoods from disasters through the provision of more drought tolerant seeds with shorter cycles. The organizations are closely collaborating and coordinating with government and community bodies such as the INGC District Commissions for disaster management and risk reduction and local disaster committees.

People in Zambezia and Nampula provinces are amongst the most vulnerable and poorest in the country, being severely and repeatedly hit by droughts, cyclones, floods and erratic weather patterns associated with climate change. “Disasters are hitting the poorest of the poor, who already exhausted all of their resources. It is difficult for communities to keep up with the accelerated speed of climate change. We are helping communities to be more resilient and not lose the fight against reoccurring disasters,” says Riley.

For further information, please contact: CARE: Adérito Bie, Communications Officer, Aderito.bie@care.org; CONCERN: info@concern.net