Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

As part of this project, UNHCR in Mozambique will ensure that refugees, asylum-seekers

and vulnerable internally displaced persons (IDPs) have access to protection services

based on their specific needs, while also providing life-saving humanitarian assistance

when needed. Through a multi-sectorial approach in UNHCR’s areas of intervention, vulnerable people will be supported to access basic services, including provision of registration and civil documentation support, and the identification and referrals of persons with specific protection needs (e.g. people with disabilities, vulnerable

children, women-at-risk and/or survivors of gender-based violence). UNHCR will also

provide emergency core relief items (CRIs) and support with shelter upgrade/maintenance to vulnerable refugees and IDPs affected by conflict and by the effects of extreme weather events.

Expected results

1. Refugees and IDPs are registered and issued with civil documentation, including renewal of expired civil documents

2. Sensitization and training of government authorities and administrative institutions on protection mainstreaming, climate resilience related to climate commitments and

the High Commissioner’s Dialogue, as well as accountability to affected populations is provided.

3. The most affected refugees, IDPs and host communities in Mozambique are supported with lifesaving assistance, including emergency core relief items (CRIs) and the rehabilitation of shelters.

4. Protection needs of IDPs are assessed and effective referral mechanisms are in place.

Target group / Beneficiaries

The total number of beneficiaries the programme aims to reach is 1,534,147 individuals (including internally displaced persons affected in Northern Mozambique, persons affected in Nampula and Zambezia provinces by Tropical Cyclone Gombe, refugees and asylum-seekers).

With the Austrian contribution 109,460 beneficiaries (IDPs: 96,250 persons; Refugees and asylum-seekers: 12,000 persons; Host community members: 1,000 persons; Government and partner benefitting from trainings: 210 persons) can be reached.

Activities

Activities that can be implemented with the Austrian contribution include:

- UNHCR will identify IDPs that do not have access to civil documentation, prepare and deploy mobile brigades in selected locations composed by local partners and government staff, register IDPs, deliver documentation, work on the sensitization on the importance and risks of statelessness. Around 22,500 persons will benefit from UNHCR´s registration work and the provision of identity documents as well as awareness-raising sessions.

- UNHCR will deliver four workshops and capacity strengthening sessions on protection mainstreaming for the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGD), Social and Environmental Safeguards Office and other relevant INGD officials in Maputo, Cabo Delgado, Niassa, Zambezia, Sofala, Tete, and Nampula provinces. In partnership with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and INGD, UNHCR will develop a displacement management training manual based on the Policy and Strategy for internal Displacement Management (PSiDM).

- UNHCR will provide IDPs, refugees and host community members with core relief items, such as tents, buckets, blankets, jerry cans, plastic tarpaulins, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, solar lamps, kitchen sets, and other relief items. In total, around 5,000 of persons will receive this assistance. Additionally, UNHCR will carry-out capacity training for implementation partners in areas of core relief items distribution.

- UNHCR will work on shelter maintenance and the upgrade of existing shelters to strengthen shelter resistance to natural disasters and resilience during the rainy season. Host communities will also benefit from this intervention, to decrease the risk of conflict and discrimination among communities. A total of 1,750 people will benefit from shelter interventions.

- UNHCR will ensure regular protection monitoring, data collection in all districts where UNHCR and its partners have access. The data will be analyzed and disseminated through relevant reports, to inform UNHCR´s and partners´ IDP response in the country. UNHCR will identify and refer vulnerable cases and provide specialized support to persons with specific protection needs, such as persons with disabilities, vulnerable children and women at risk. Additionally, UNHCR and partners will organize focus group discussions and regular field visits to assess the needs of the population.

Context

Since 2017, Mozambique has experienced large-scale internal displacement due to insecurity and violence perpetrated by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) as well as recurrent extreme weather events that left an estimated 1,6 million people in need of

urgent humanitarian assistance and protection (HRP 2023). In 2023, the situation in Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique remains complex, notwithstanding the

deployment of international forces in 2021, led by the Southern African Development

Community (SADC) and the Rwandan Armed Forces, to end the insurgency.

Exacerbating the situation, Mozambique is among the most adversely affected countries

globally by climate related hazards, with cyclical extreme weather events, such as

cyclones, tropical storms, and flooding, driving displacement and making life harder for

those forced to flee. Displaced populations are disproportionately exposed and vulnerable to climate related shocks, and often have the fewest resources and support to adapt in the face of an increasingly hostile environment. A multitude of protection issues face the IDP population, including lack of documentation, limited psychosocial support, exclusion from assistance, unprincipled solutions, GBV, including conflict-related sexual violence, denial of resources, opportunities, or services, and housing, land, and property (HLP) issues such as lack of security of tenure and eviction from housing or land.

For the 31,853 refugees and asylum-seekers hosted in Mozambique, many have been

living in a situation of protracted displacement for more than 20 years and are in need of

durable solutions. Out of the total population of refugees and asylum seekers, 33 per cent

live in the Maratane refugee settlement in Nampula (the only refugee settlement in the

country), while the remaining 67 per cent reside in other locations in the provinces of

Nampula, Maputo, Tete, Cabo Delgado, and Zambezia. UNHCR’s government

counterpart, Insituto Nacional para el Apoio ao Refugiados (INAR), under the Ministry of

Interior, is the lead authority on refugees in Mozambique, and works together with national and international partners.

UNHCR and partners work closely with a range of stakeholders, including the Government, to provide lifesaving protection services and assistance for affected populations, including refugees and IDPs, while harnessing opportunities to invest in and build resilience among communities and facilitate sustainable solutions to displacement.