HIGHLIGHTS
- On 15 January, Daniel Chapo was inaugurated as the 5th President of the Republic of Mozambique. While various protests, including a three-day national strike between the 13 and 15 January, were organized to coincide with the inauguration week, the situation was largely quiet amidst a heavy security presence in key urban centres such as Maputo and Nampula. These protests were typically met with a strong police response, with protestors reportedly being dispersed with teargas and gunfire.
- On 14 January, Tropical Cyclone Dikeledi made landfall in Mozambique, impacting large swathes of Nampula Province. According to the Mozambique National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD), at least 39,000 people have been affected by the cyclone. This comes on the back of December’s devastating Cyclone Chido, which affected an estimated 450,000 in Nampula and Cabo Delgado provinces.
- The ongoing response to those affected by the two cyclones continues to be hampered by humanitarian access constraints, with the authorities blocking all access to cyclone-affected districts in Nampula Province on security grounds. Amidst a challenging operating environment, humanitarian partners, including UNHCR, continue to support the Government to respond to those in Cabo Delgado affected by Cyclone Chido.
- As of 16 January, host governments, with support from UNHCR, have verified close to 8,000 new arrivals from Mozambique to Malawi and Eswatini. As of 16 January, UNHCR and the Malawi Department of Refugees have completed the registration of 6,862 individuals, the vast majority of whom arrived in the Nsanje District. Also, as of 14 January, at least 1,104 individuals arrived in Eswatini. While arrivals to Malawi and Eswatini continue to be reported, the scale of daily cross-border movements appears to have declined, with no significant influxes recorded over the last week.