Mozambique: UNOPS should remain in Cabo Delgado- executive director

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Mozambique: UNOPS should remain in Cabo Delgado- executive director

2:04 CAT | 17 Jun 2024

Photo: Lusa

The executive director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) on Monday defended the continuity of the agency’s support for the displaced in Cabo Delgado, given the results achieved, asking that this “crisis” in Mozambique not be forgotten.

“The world is facing other crises (…). UNOPS is present in many contexts of conflict and violence, but we cannot allow the situation in Cabo Delgado to be forgotten in the international context,” said Jorge Moreira da Silva, after a meeting in Maputo with the Mozambique’s foreign minister, Verónica Macamo.

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General began a four-day visit to Mozambique today to learn about the projects being implemented by UNOPS in Cabo Delgado, where he will be travelling on Tuesday.

Since 2022, UNOPS has been leading the implementation of support for the more than one million displaced people in all the districts of Cabo Delgado, a province affected for almost seven years by terrorist attacks, to the value of $200 million (around €187 million) financed by the World Bank and destined for development and humanitarian projects in the region.

“The construction of 20 schools, eight health centres, 40,000 people who have had access to psychological support, more than 7,000 young people who have had access to vocational training, the construction of eight markets, four business incubators, as well as all the social support for the internally displaced, it was a project that had beautiful results, but the question I have is: is it finished? It’s not,” said Jorge Moreira da Silva.

The head of Mozambican diplomacy, Verónica Macamo, praised the “strength” of UNOPS’ work in Mozambique, hoping to strengthen cooperation: “They say that something can be excellent, but there’s still a way to make it better”.

The former Portuguese minister who heads UNOPS said the continuity of this support project in Cabo Delgado beyond 2025 is on the table: “There is obviously a need to go further and I think that if the results have been so good, I sincerely hope that it will be possible to progress. I can’t announce anything at the moment, but my expectation is that the World Bank may be interested in continuing this partnership. And I think it will be in the interest of all parties to do so.”

Jorge Moreira da Silva recognised that this four-day mission, which includes meetings with various members of the Mozambican government and field visits, is taking place “in a very specific context”.

“At a time when Mozambique is clearly one of the countries most threatened by the consequences of climate change, it has been hit by successive climatic disasters which show that, although it is not responsible for very significant greenhouse gas emissions, it suffers disproportionate effects from climate change and, therefore, it is essential that the international community mobilises to support Mozambique in climate resilience, in adapting to climate change, but also in decarbonisation, in the energy transition,” he pointed out.

Still on the situation in Cabo Delgado, which continues to see attacks by insurgent groups, although on a smaller scale in recent weeks, Jorge Moreira da Silva acknowledged that “the threat is not over”.

“What happened in May, with the latest attack [on the town of Macomia], shows that it is important to continue to make every effort to guarantee security in that part of the country, but it is not enough to guarantee security. We need social support and economic support. We need to create conditions of well-being,” he said.

“UNOPS is not a security agency, it is not an agency that deals with security or defence, but it is an agency that deals with humanitarian and development projects and that is why I hope that this project can continue in the coming years,” he concluded.

Very glad to meet the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Economy of #Mozambique.

The partnership between the government, @WorldBank and @UNOPS has delivered tangible results in support of communities in Cabo Delgado.

We look forward to expanding this collaboration. pic.twitter.com/siPAKvkFlT

— Jorge Moreira da Silva (@UNOPS_Chief) June 17, 2024

Just landed Maputo, Mozambique. In the next 4 days I will meet President Nyusi, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Agriculture; visit @UNOPS @WorldBank projects in Cabo Delgado in support of local communities and IDPs; discuss climate & SDGs at Univerdade Eduardo Mondlane. pic.twitter.com/doR6arf2Tk

— Jorge Moreira da Silva (@UNOPS_Chief) June 17, 2024