SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre officially opens in Nacala

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AfricaPress-mozambique: President of the Republic and Acting President of the SADC, Filipe Nyusi, opened the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre (SHOC) in Nacala, Nampula province, today (21 June).

The President of Botswana and Acting President of the SADC Organ for Cooperation in the Areas of Politics, Defence and Security, Mokgweetsi Masisi, co-chaired the event.

At the inauguration, President Nyusi said that Mozambique alone had lost around US$150 million to adverse weather events.

The three cyclones that hit Mozambique also caused the death of 800 people in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, he said; 2500 people were injured and close to three million people affected. More than 3,000 classrooms were destroyed, as were 1,788 hectares of crops and more than 54 hospital units.

President Nyusi said the launch of the SHOC constituted the realization of one of the priorities of Mozambique’s presidency of the SADC, and that the facility would assist in the rapid recovery of member states and in the supply of necessary equipment for the support teams.

The country, hit by the three cyclones, would be better able, through the establishment of the SHOC, to combat the harmful effects resulting from climate change and other associated emergencies requiring rapid, coordinated and timely intervention in any SADC member state.

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