6 months after the devastation of Cyclone Idai, the scars left in Mozambique remain

More than 1.8 million people were affected by the two cyclones that hit Mozambique. Heavy damages were caused in Sofala, Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces. Cyclone Idai, one of the worst tropical cyclones in Africa, has significantly affected agricultural land, roads, homes and the livelihood of the affected populations. Today, life goes on, but the consequences of this disaster are still very much present.

HI Mozambique, in collaboration with its partners, responded immediately to provide emergency assistance to people affected by the cyclone. HI evaluated the needs of the population affected by Cyclone Idai, focusing particularly on people with disabilities, who are often left behind during emergency responses.

An overview of our intervention:

• Emergency flying team produced 6 road accessibility maps handed out to all humanitarian organisations, and a logistical vulnerability report - shared with all humanitarian organisations.
• HI coordinated the clearance activities, in collaboration with 443 people from these communities, to clear more than 7000 cubic meters of debris from main roads of Beira and in 11 poor districts of the city. Many humanitarian actors used these resources (maps and road cleaning) to reach the neighbourhoods worse affected who lived in areas that had become inaccessible.
• HI Mozambique, with the support of Aktion Deutschland Hilft (ADH) and Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance Abroad (OFDA – USAID) distributed kits of non-food items (NFI).  3,315 of the most vulnerable households received shelter and kitchen kits; benefiting 15 000 people, including people with disabilities. These kits have enabled families to rebuild their house.
• An HI team of social protection experts identified those most at risk:  pregnant women, children with disabilities etc. in order to make sure they had access to all basic services in the most affected district of Sofala.
  So far HI’s protection project has helped to identify more than 200 beneficiaries and provided psycho-social support to children with disabilities, their parents and pregnant women.
• HI is working with many organisations involved in the humanitarian response, providing technical support and raising awareness, to make sure that the needs of the most vulnerable are listened to and provided for.

Over the long term, HI aims to strengthen the resilience of the most vulnerable people in Mozambique, so that they are able to protect themselves in the event of natural disasters. The organisation also wants vulnerable people to be taken into account in the emergency responses carried out by other humanitarian organisations, to ensure that they have access to humanitarian services (health care, food, access to drinking water, etc.).