The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNHCR , OCHA , WFP
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Humanitarian Response Mozambique OCHA - UNHCR - WFP
UN warns of rising violence and food insecurity in Mozambique
The United Nations and partners today launched an appeal for US$ 254 million to provide urgently needed assistance and protection to more 1.1 million people affected by violence, conflict and insecurity in the Cabo Delgado area and neighboring provinces of Mozambique.
"The crisis in Cabo Delgado rapidly escalated in 2020, with attacks and fighting forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes every month," said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) at a news conference in Geneva. “ Nearly 530,000 people are now internally displaced in Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Niassa, almost five times the number registered some nine months ago in March," he said, referencing the northernmost area of the country, in the vicinity of the border with Tanzania, and the neighboring regions to which people have fled.
The crisis in Cabo Delgado province is linked by UN experts to a combination of attacks by Islamist militants and a perceived failure by authorities to distribute some of the vast mineral and offshore gas revenues to the local population.
“People fleeing violence in Cabo Delgado have been exposed to severe violations and abuses and we are especially concerned for the plight of children and women”, the OCHA spokesperson said. “Women and girls are at risk of abduction, gender-based violence and exploitation, while boys are at risk of being killed or recruited by armed groups,” he added.
Conflict and displacement are severely affecting already overstretched essential services. More than 90 per cent of the displaced people are living with relatives or friends, whose already scarce resources are being further strained, OCHA said. Communities hosting displaced people also need support as their exemplary solidarity is reaching a breaking point.
“Many areas hosting displaced people will flood in the upcoming rainy season, we fear. Local authorities and the humanitarian community in Mozambique are working against the clock to set up new settlement areas with adequate conditions to relocate the displaced people, ” Laerke said .
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) expressed "deep concern" over the rising number of civilians displaced in the northern parts of Mozambique as attacks by non-state armed groups continue to rage in Cabo Delgado province.
”During the last few days, attacks conducted by these armed groups have increased significantly in Palma, Nangade and Macomia districts. Many people have been forced to move multiple times, and the situation of those affected by the conflict is worsening rapidly,” UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch said today.
UNHCR stressed that the situation represents a "protection crisis" for more than half a million civilians on the run. There are widespread reports of human rights abuses and disregard for international humanitarian law.
UNHCR’s Baloch said that “more than 2,000 people have been killed since the conflict started in 2017. In the violence houses have been looted and burned, families separated and health centres and schools seriously damaged.” He added that “access to agricultural land has been blocked and other economic activities curtailed. There is a serious indication that this crisis could spread beyond the country’s borders if it goes unstopped”.
”The food security situation is quite dire. There are high levels of hunger and malnutrition rates," said the World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Tomson Phiri. "More than 900,000 people in Cabo Delgado, in Niassa as well as in Nampula are now facing crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity," Phiri said.
With the disruption of markets, food prices are skyrocketing as supply decreases, WFP expressed deepening worries for the most vulnerable groups, including severely and acutely malnourished children, and pregnant or nursing women.
In reference to Cabo Delgado, WFP’s Tomson Phiri said that highlighted that "it has the highest rates of chronic malnutrition in Mozambique with more than half the children malnourished. Without urgent and sustained access and assistance the situation may turn into another major humanitarian disaster”.
The UN agencies and their humanitarian partners said that they counting on the support of the international community to provide timely funding to ensure that the people fleeing violence can access much-needed relief.
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a cloudy day.
- Wide shot, press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “The crisis in Cabo Delgado rapidly escalated in 2020, with attacks and fighting forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes every month. Nearly 530,000 people are now internally displaced in Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Niassa, almost five times the number registered some nine months ago in March”.
- Medium shot, journalist in press room
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “People fleeing violence in Cabo Delgado have been exposed to severe violations and abuses and we are especially concerned for the plight of children and women. Women and girls are at risk of abduction, gender-based violence and exploitation, while boys are at risk of being killed or recruited by armed groups”.
- Close up, OHCHR spokesperson
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Many areas hosting displaced people will flood in the upcoming rainy season, we fear. Local authorities and the humanitarian community in Mozambique are working against the clock to set up new settlement areas with adequate conditions to relocate the displaced people”.
- Wide shot, podium and screen in the room
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Babar Baloch, Spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): ”During the last few days, attacks conducted by these armed groups have increased significantly in Palma, Nangade and Macomia districts. Many people have been forced to move multiple times, and the situation of those affected by the conflict is worsening rapidly”.
- Medium shot, journalists in press briefing room at the UN Palais
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Babar Baloch, Spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “More than 2,000 people have been killed since the conflict started in 2017. In the violence houses have been looted and burned, families separated and health centres and schools seriously damaged. Access to agricultural land has been blocked and other economic activities curtailed. There is a serious indication that this crisis could spread beyond the country’s borders if it goes unstopped”.
- Medium shot, spokespeople at the podium
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Tomson Phiri, Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): ”The food security situation is quite dire. There are high levels of hunger and malnutrition rates. More than 900,000 people in Cabo Delgado, in Niassa as well as in Nampula are now facing crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity”.
- Close up, journalist
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Tomson Phiri, Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): ”Cabo Delgado, it has to be noted, it has the highest rates of chronic malnutrition in Mozambique with more than half the children malnourished. Without urgent and sustained access and assistance the situation may turn into another major humanitarian disaster”.
- Wide shot, podium with spokespeople
- Close up, journalist in press briefing room
- Close up, hands typing
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
A little over one year since a ceasefire agreement was announced between Hamas fighters and Israel, more than 340 children have been reported killed and hundreds more injured, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IFRC
Six weeks after Nepal’s deadly flooding disaster, communities are still struggling to rebuild their lives, but they will need sustained help as global warming increases the risk of another Himalayan catastrophe, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
In suspected Russia plague death, testing and monitoring underway – WHO
The death of a lab worker in Russia’s Siberia region has sparked concerns about plague being the cause, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, adding that it was following the situation closely.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on the human rights situation in Haiti.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated delays in bringing lifesaving medicines, prosthetics and more from Israel into Gaza risk having devastating consequences on Palestinians who urgently need them in the wartorn enclave, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. “A truck full of non-priority supplies or the right supplies arriving too late, doesn't save lives. That's the question that actually matters," said Dr Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, WHO Representative in the OPT.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC: Early access to care and oxygen decisive for Ebola patients’ survival – WHO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers fighting the country’s largest-ever Ebola outbreak are struggling to overcome critical challenges to patient care, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UN
Civilians in Iran are continuing to feel the consequences of months of conflict and military escalation, the UN’s top official in the country has said, as loss of life, damage to civilian infrastructure and mounting economic pressures leave many facing continued uncertainty.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF
Aid agencies in Yemen highlighted the growing hunger emergency sparked by renewed fighting between Houthi opposition forces and Government troops, after mobile health clinics reported that hundreds of children displaced by the violence are suffering from the most deadly form of malnutrition.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Displacement on the rise in Yemen as fighting continues - UNHCR
As hostilities worsen in Yemen, more people have been fleeing their homes, further intensifying the humanitarian crisis within the region, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.