Funding Falls Far Short for UNICEF's Work in Mozambique

In its latest situation report, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has said that, during 2021, it had to cope with a shortfall of just under U.S.$56 million for its life-saving and life-sustaining work with children and their caregivers in Mozambique.

In 2021 the organisation appealed for U.S.$96,5 million for its work with a particular emphasis on the northern province of Cabo Delgado where insurgents forced around 750,000 people to flee their homes - 59% of whom were children. UNICEF also says food insecurity conditions are prevalent across the country. It expects that between November 2021 and March 2022 about 1.9 million people will be in "high levels of acute food insecurity and in need of humanitarian assistance".

The SADC launched a military initiative in July, 2021 in response to violent extremism and militant activity in Mozambique, marking the second time in its history that the regional bloc opted for military intervention, and the first time such an operation has been launched in response to the threat of insurgency. At the January 2022 SADC summit in Malawi, leaders of the regional bloc agreed to extend the mandate of the SADC Mission in Mozambique for a second time.