Africa-Press – Mozambique. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday warned that it has only received just under 30 million US dollars in donations for its life-saving and life-sustaining work with children and their caregivers in Mozambique.
The organisation’s 2021 Humanitarian Action for Children appeal was revised upwards in June to 96.5 million dollars due to escalating needs, particularly in the northern province of Cabo Delgado where islamist terrorists have wreaked untold economic damage and human misery.
However, only 29.9 million dollars has been received, and even when taking into account a carry-over of 13.3 million dollars there remains a 55 per cent funding gap. The most neglected areas are its Education programme which has a funding gap of 87 per cent, and its Child Protection programme which still needs to receive 65 per cent of its budget. Its Social Protection programme has a 62 per cent funding gap.
Among the donors to the appeal are the governments of Canada, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The UNICEF appeal has also received funds from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, Education Cannot Wait, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, the Japan National Committee for UNICEF, and the United Nation’s Central Emergency Response Fund.
UNICEF notes that people continue to be affected by insurgent attacks in the northern parts of Cabo Delgado and points out that the International Organisation of Migration estimates that in September there were 744,949 internally displaced people, of whom 52 per cent are children. UNICEF warns that “the precarious food insecurity situation is expected to continue across conflict-affected areas of Cabo Delgado as a result of poor access to food sources and arable land”.
The UN agency notes that the Mozambican defence and security forces along with their allies from Rwanda and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) continue to clear conflict-affected areas. However, it points out that “while this resulted in increased access to some districts previously unreachable, and the clearing of known insurgent bases, attacks continue as the fractured insurgent factions engage in small-scale attacks including further north and west than previously seen”.
As the government forces have taken back control of areas, some displaced people have participated in “go-see” visits to check on their property and the local security situation. However, UNICEF warns that the situation is not yet stable enough for returns in all areas and notes that some organisations are warning that “as civilians and humanitarian aid go into areas of conflict that have been deserted, targeting of civilians by insurgents is likely to increase in an attempt to access food and other supplies”.
There have been other positive developments and UNICEF highlights the approval by the Mozambican government of a three-year reconstruction plan for Cabo Delgado with a budget of 300 million dollars, focusing on the districts recently cleared by the security forces. This will be structured around humanitarian assistance, recovery of infrastructure, and economic and financing activities.
For More News And Analysis About Mozambique Follow Africa-Press
