"The Needs are Many for Hundreds
of Thousands"
Westport, CT-Save the Children is responding
to the urgent needs of Mozambican children and families left homeless by
the devastating floods brought about by persistent rain and Cyclone Eline.
Estimates range between 600,000 and one million people have been driven
from their homes.
The surging Limpopo River is still rising, as rain continues to fall in upstream South Africa. Displaced residents of the most severely affected areas bordering the river have been warned not to return to their villages in anticipation of higher water levels in coming days. Food is scarce and even where food is available, transport has been complicated by damaged infrastructure.
Save the Children is utilizing agency staff and resources to provide round-the-clock support for the homeless families. The first priority is to assist with the management and distribution of supplies (food and non-food) in Gaza province with prime responsibility for the warehousing and distribution of donated non-food relief supplies in the city of Chibuto.
Children always pay an especially heavy toll in emergencies, and Save the Children is initiating health programs largely focusing on cholera prevention for this most vulnerable population.
Disease, malnutrition, a scarcity of food and safe drinking water are now realities for thousands of children in Mozambique, where infant mortality is already among the world's highest and where stunting affects 55% of children under the age of five.
One of the most devastated regions of Mozambique is Gaza Province where Save the Children operates active health, education, agriculture and income generation programs. When the flooding subsides Save the Children will assist UNICEF with an assessment and eventual reconstruction and re-supply of primary schools destroyed in Gaza. And, when the waters have completely receded, Save the Children will distribute seed kits to the neediest families for planting.
Save the Children has been working in Mozambique since 1988. Its program has evolved from its original focus of assisting children caught up in a protracted civil war to an integrated package of interventions that assist Mozambican communities in Gaza and Nampula provinces to create and sustain an environment in which their children can thrive and survive. Today, nearly 300,000 children and adults benefit from these ongoing community development programs.
Save the Children is an international nonprofit child-assistance organization working in 46 countries worldwide, including the United States. Its mission is to make lasting, positive change in the lives of children in need. Save the Children also is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, which is a worldwide network of 26 independent Save the Children organizations working in more than 100 countries to ensure the well-being and protect the rights of children everywhere.