Moronvia — The UN children's agency, UNICEF, warns severe flooding in Mozambique poses a "deadly threat" to children, as extreme weather continues to cause havoc across the region. Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, UNICEF's Chief of Communication in Mozambique, Guy Taylor, said heavy rains triggered a "rapidly escalating" emergency across vast swathes of the country.
"The fact that Mozambique is now entering its annual cyclone season creates the risk of a double crisis, with the most vulnerable being impacted most severely," Taylor said. He said preliminary data suggests more than 500,000 people have been affected by flood waters, over half of whom are children.
The southern provinces of Gaza and Maputo were the hardest hit by rising water levels in recent days. According to Taylor, more than 50,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and are now sheltering in dozens of temporary centers, many of which are overcrowded.
The disruption to infrastructure left essential services in a precarious state.
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"Access to basic services - such as clean water, healthcare, nutrition, and education - is uncertain or unsafe in the most impacted areas," the UNICEF representative said. He stressed that in such conditions, "children face higher risks of disease, interrupted learning, and protection risks, particularly for girls and adolescents."
Taylor expressed concern regarding the "lethal combination" of waterborne diseases and malnutrition:
"Even before the recent floods, almost 40% of children in Mozambique were experiencing chronic malnutrition. Renewed disruption to food supplies and health services now threatens to push the most vulnerable into a dangerous spiral of acute malnutrition, the deadliest form of the condition."
He said UNICEF is currently working with the government to respond to the crisis "with urgency". In Gaza, for instance, the agency is supporting the government and humanitarian partners in assessing needs and distributing essential supplies to displaced families.
Other parts of the country were also affected by the heavy downpour. In Sofala Province in the north, Taylor said UNICEF has already provided water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) supplies to the four most affected districts. These efforts enabled the treatment of contaminated water at the household level, reaching at least 13,000 families.
President Daniel Chapo has reportedly cancelled his scheduled trip to the World Economic Forum, in light of the worsening situation, to personally oversee the national emergency response.
