8 January 2008
Maputo — The United Nations has offered assistance to Mozambique to respond to the current floods in the centre of the country, where the government has declared a red alert.
The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Mozambique, Ndolamb Ngokwey, declared in a statement issued on Monday "The humanitarian community is ready to support the government in the response that is now under way".
"In recent months we have been working together with the national authorities to establish contingency plans guaranteeing that people affected by the floods are supported in an expeditious manner", added Ngokwey.
United Nations teams sent to the flood-stricken areas are making rapid assessments of the impact of the floods on agriculture, water and sanitation, nutrition, education and other areas. They are working with the government's relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute (INGC), the Mozambique Red Cross, and other humanitarian NGOs to ascertain the most urgent needs of the 56,000 people whom the INGC says are currently affected.
The INGC national director, Paulo Zucula, told reporters that efforts are being made to avoid launching an international emergency appeal. The INGC is also toughening its line towards people who have refused to leave dangerous areas in the river valleys. There will now be compulsory evacuation before the situation deteriorates much further.
Among the agencies involved in the relief effort is the London-based NGO, Oxfam, which has expressed concern over the health implications of the floods.
"Whenever a flood hits, a lack of clean water and sanitation facilities reaches dangerous levels in a matter of days, if not hours. Access to both will become farther and farther out of reach and could lead to a widespread health crisis as flood waters continue to rise,", warned Hugo Oosterkamp, Oxfam International's Water and Sanitation emergency coordinator in Mozambique.
Cited in an Oxfam press release, Oosterkamp added "As water and sanitation experts, Oxfam's priority will be to rush in this assistance as quickly as possible to evacuation centers where people are seeking shelter. In these conditions the threat of diarrhea, malaria and cholera must be addressed immediately".
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