Mozambique floods: Nine confirmed dead

IHA/752, AFR/549
NEW YORK, 28 January (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) - In Mozambique, the United Nations Resident Coordinator's Office reported that 98,000 people in the provinces of Nampula and Zambezia were affected by the recent floods. In addition, 9,000 hectares of crops were lost. Destruction of infrastructure was also reported, along with damage to the water supply. The Government has activated its 2003 contingency plan, and the National Disaster Management Institute is working with ministries, the armed forces, the Mozambican Red Cross, non-governmental organizations and the United Nations in dispatching food, shelter and other relief supplies. Repairs to railroads and roads are also being effected.

The Resident Coordinator's Office also confirmed the reports that nine people have died from eating poisonous wild foods due to hunger in Magoe District in the country's north-west. The area is chronically food insecure. The World Food Programme (WFP) has delivered food on an emergency basis.

Meanwhile, the Southern African Development Community's Drought Monitoring Centre in Harare has warned that rainfall in 2002/2003, especially in the south, is expected to be poor for the remainder of the season. Parts of Mozambique, Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe are considered critical. The preliminary results of the December vulnerability assessments show a deteriorating trend in most of the countries in the region. Numbers of vulnerable people have already increased in Zimbabwe and are expected to increase in Lesotho and Mozambique.

The Consolidated Appeal for Southern Africa has received $353 million, or 58 per cent, of the $611 million needed.

For further information, please contact Stephanie Bunker at 1-212-963-8740, or Brian Grogan at 1-212-963-1143.