The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that it has only received 22 per cent of the funding needed for its operations in Mozambique.
In its humanitarian situation report published on 23 August, UNICEF points out that it has only received US$19 million for its US$169 million appeal "to sustain life-saving services for nearly 2.5 million children and families in Mozambique affected by multiple shocks, including those affected by conflict in northern Mozambique, Cyclone Freddy, and the cholera outbreak".
To supplement these funds, UNICEF is using US$17.5 million carried over from last year. However, this still leaves a 77.8 per cent funding gap.
This comes at a time when the needs in Mozambique are growing. UNICEF warns of the intensification of the conflict in the northern province of Cabo Delgado (which has been plagued by Islamist terrorism since 2017) which has "resulted in the movement of over 7,600 people in July, of whom half are children".
UNICEF also warns that research by the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) at the end of July indicated that food security in areas in the centre of the country hit by Cyclone Freddy has deteriorated due to the impact of the cyclone at harvest time. UNICEF states, "Poor households are likely engaging in coping strategies to minimise food consumption gaps following a poor/failed harvest and limited access to income (livelihoods)".
In addition, UNICEF highlights its concern about the high price of the staple food maize which is 20 to 66 per cent above average "due in part to delayed harvests and crop losses during the 2022/2023 agricultural season".
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Looking to the future, UNICEF points out that according to the National Institute of Meteorology, there is a greater than 90 per cent chance of an El Nino occurrence during the next rainy season. El Nino conditions typically lead to irregular and deficient rainfall in the south and centre of the country and excessive rainfall in northern areas.
UNICEF notes that "in July, there were more than 23 consecutive days without significant rainfall and the majority of the country recorded below normal vegetation coverage".
Funding for UNICEF's work in Mozambique has been received from the governments of Canada, Japan, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, South Korea, Sweden, the European Union, and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
