Africa-Press – Mozambique. MEP Carlos Zorrinho said this week that he thought the humanitarian assistance offered to victims of armed violence in Cabo Delgado province was insufficient, calling for the protection of displaced persons “right to survival”.
“Displaced populations still do not have the humanitarian support they need,” said the president of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific – European Union (JPA ACP-EU) during an observation mission to Mozambique.
The MEP warned that the humanitarian plight of those displaced by the war in Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country, could even worsen with the arrival of the rainy season, which in Mozambique begins in October and lasts until March.
“There is some risk that all the camps will not have the resilience to face weather in an area with a complicated microclimate and where there are often heavy rains,” he emphasised, referring to the resettlement sites where families live under tarpaulins, reeds or other improvised materials.
Carlos Zorrinho noted that the fact that the world was facing multiple humanitarian crises could not serve as an excuse for humanitarian assistance not reaching those in need, as it was imperative to ensure “the right to survival and a decent life”.
“What happens in Cabo Delgado deserves full attention, and we will do that, because we cannot use having so many similar problems [in other parts of the world] as an excuse,” he said.
“We have to resolve each one of them, and each one that is resolved is a step forward.”
The MEP also defended the need for coordination between all institutions involved in humanitarian aid, in order to secure greater efficiency.
“None of the actors is able to provide an integrated response [alone]. The integrated response is the sum of the individual responses, and that is why we have to coordinate – to provide this integrated response,” he said.
On the other hand, he continued, the resolution of the humanitarian and security crisis in Cabo Delgado must include the local population, because they also “have solutions and ambitions” in relation to the situation they face.
JPA ACP/UE mission to Cabo Delgado completed. I will emphasize:
– The hard work of local authorities and civil society.
– The recognition of the role of EU and ACP cooperation.
– The long way to go to restore stability to the territory.
As part of the visit to Mozambique, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly observation mission visited the Metuge camp in Cabo Delgado, which houses 150,000 people displaced by armed violence there.
The mission held meetings with senior leaders of the Mozambican state and Cabo Delgado province, including deputies of the Assembly of the Republic and representatives of Mozambican and international non-governmental organisations, as well as religious entities.
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