Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

Effective and principled humanitarian action that meets the needs of affected people in Mozambique.

Expected results

OCHA Cyclone Idai and Cyclone Kenneth response priorities are strengthening humanitarian coordination at national and local level to respond to flood- and cyclone-related emergency needs and facilitating joint assessments and response planning. Expected results include:

Humanitarian action is led by empowered, competent and experienced professionals, and guided by joint, strategic response planning;

Coordination mechanisms are adapted to the context and support the effective and coherent delivery of humanitarian assistance;

People in emergencies are protected from harm and have access to principled humanitarian assistance as a result of advocacy and coordination;

International partners are ready to respond to humanitarian emergencies without delay and with the right assistance;

Community engagement, protection and gender sensitivity of the humanitarian response is strengthened.

Expected results for the OCHA response to the Mozambique floods (not only related to Austrian contribution):

Strategic support is provided to the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) (as the key strategic decision-making body), the Inter-Cluster Working Group (as the operational, technical and advisory body), and provincial Humanitarian Focal Points (designated by the HCT to lead sub-national coordination);

Humanitarian Coordinator is provided with timely advice on key humanitarian strategic, operational and policy issues;

High-calibre operational coordination supports effective, efficient and prioritized humanitarian response;

High quality humanitarian appeal is developed and revised as necessary to galvanize resources for humanitarian action in Mozambique.

Target group / Beneficiaries

30 humanitarian partners are participating in the Mozambique Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) (Nov 2018-Mai 2020), of which 12 UN Agencies, 13 international NGOs, and 5 national NGOs. Indirect beneficiaries are the estimated 2.79 million people affected by drought, floods and cyclones who are targeted for urgent humanitarian assistance. The Austrian funding benefits roughly 3,593 people.

OCHA implements this program in Manica, Sofala, Zambezia and Cabo Delgado.

Activities

Cyclone Idai response priority activities for coordination are:

Strengthen humanitarian coordination at national and local level to respond to flood- and cyclone-related emergency needs.

Facilitate joint assessments and response planning.

Promote accountability to, and two-way communication with, affected people and strive to meet their information needs, including through the use of radio as a key communication modality.

Carry-out an initial baseline assessment of displaced and affected communities including origin, needs, services, gaps and detailed demographics for use in partner programming.

Undertake mobility tracking of population movements for return, relocation and cross border dynamics where applicable.

Context

Multiple and consecutive shocks, including drought, cyclones, floods and insecurity, have left an estimated 2.6 million people (almost 10 percent of the country’s population) in need of life-saving and resilience-building assistance in Mozambique: Poor performance of the January-March 2019 rainy season in southern provinces caused substantial agricultural losses, with lingering effects expected to last until the next main harvest in 2020. During the same season in 2019 two strong tropical cyclones hit the country, leaving a trail of death, damage and destruction whose impacts will be felt well into 2020. Cyclone Idai made landfall in March 2019 near Beira City in Sofala Province, bringing strong winds and torrential rains to surrounding provinces. Six weeks later, Cyclone Kenneth struck the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula. Combined, the two cyclones killed at least 648 people; injured nearly 1,700 people; and damaged or destroyed more than 277,700 homes. In Cabo Delgado, it is estimated that approximately 60,000 people have been affected and/or displaced by insecurity since October 2017, including over 200 attacks on villages by armed groups and clashes between security forces and armed groups. For people in villages previously impacted by violence, tropical Cyclone Kenneth’s landfall represented a crisis on top of a crisis.

After Cyclone Idai’s landfall, the humanitarian response has reached more than 1.9 million people across the central region of Mozambique. However, needs remain high and the situation is especially concerning now as the region has entered the rainy and cyclone season (October-April) in an extremely precarious situation. Hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tents more damaged houses, hundreds of schools and health centres are yet to be repaired and food assistance will be critical to avoid a food crisis.

In response to Cyclone Kenneth’s landfall, humanitarian partners have reached more than 250,000 people with vital life-saving assistance, in support of the Government-led response. The response, however, is severely under-funded while humanitarian needs remain high.