Attachments
Highlights
• The security situation in Cabo Delgado deteriorated with ANSA attacks causing the displacement of nearly 113,000 individuals, 60 percent of whom where children.
• While El Niño caused drought in some areas of the country, others were hit by storm systems affecting 171,000 people and killing 11.
• UNICEF provided therapeutic foods enabiling the treatment of over 4,200 severely malnourished children in five provinces.
• UNICEF provided health supplies for cholera response in nine provinces supporting the treatment of over 100,000 people.
• Over 136,000 children received learner kits and benefited from other school supplies provided by UNICEF in four provinces.
• UNICEF reached 2.5 million people with cholera prevention and care-seeking behaviour messages.
Funding Overview and Partnerships
The 2024 UNICEF Mozambique Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) appeal outlines the need for $114 million to sustain life-saving services for nearly 2.3 million children and families in Mozambique affected by multiple shocks, including those affected by conflict in northern Mozambique, cholera outbreak, El Niño related drought, and residual needs from Cyclone Freddy. In the first quarter of 2024, UNICEF received $1 million for cholera, and storm response from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and UNICEF National Committees in China, France, Germany,
Luxembourg, Ireland and the United Kingdom. These funds, with an allocation from UNICEF’s Global Humanitarian Thematic Funds and carry-over of funds from 2023, allowed UNICEF to meet immediate needs. However, significant gaps remain for all response programmes which is affecting UNICEF’s ability to meet the needs of children and their carers.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
In the first quarter of 2024, between 12 March and 8 April Mozambique was impacted by tropical storm systems including severe Tropical Storm Filipo resulting in rainfall of over 150mm in 24 hours which affected over 171,000 people and killed 11. The systems affected mainly Maputo city and province, Inhambane province, and to a lesser extent Gaza and Sofala provinces. The combined weather events damaged/destroyed 136 health facilities and 352 schools1 leaving 139,800 students with unsafe learning environments. The heavy rains also damaged 531km of road networks, power lines and crops. The climate events, conflict in the north, and El Niño-induced drought have impacted the agricultural season and have led more families to be in “stressed” or “crisis” conditions according to the integrated phase classification.
In northern Mozambique, a deterioration in the security situation resulted in a substantive spike in displacements. In the first three months of 2024, attacks and fear of attacks by armed non-state actors (ANSAs) in Cabo Delgado province left nearly 113,000 individuals internally displaced, of whom more than 91,000 were displaced from Chiure District alone.3 More than 60 per cent of those displaced were children. The attacks damaged schools and health facilities, interrupted basic services, and caused the evacuation of humanitarian and government personnel from affected areas of Chiure, Ibo and Quissanga districts. Insecurity risks reversing the downward trend in the number of displaced in the north, which was 582,764 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in December 2023 according to data from IOM DTM4 – the lowest reported figure since October 2020.
Displaced women and girls experience remain extremely vulnerable due to an intersection of factors: the lack of gender segregated spaces and latrines in accommodation centres, limited lighting, reduced access to protection services, the lack of opportunities for income generation, and limited community-based complaint mechanisms. These factors expose women and girls to a high risk of gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and abuse, and negative coping strategies.
Mozambique continues to report cholera cases in eight provinces out of 11 and at least 22 districts. Since October 2023, the total cumulative cases reported is 15,386. While the case fatality rate remains low, underreporting of cases hampers the ability of humanitarian agencies to address the needs quickly. The four provinces reporting the highest number of cases are Nampula, Tete, Cabo Delgado and Zambezia.