Drought victims in Mozambique need over US$200 million – UN envoy

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Drought victims in Mozambique need over US$200 million – UN envoy

11:53 CAT | 31 Oct 2016

rfI (File photo)

The Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for the El Nino phenomenon and for climate change, Macharia Kamau, declared on Friday that more than 200 million US dollars is needed for an immediate response to the drought crisis in southern and central Mozambique.

Kamau visited Mozambique for four days this week, touring drought stricken districts, and speaking with senior Mozambican officials, including President Filipe Nyusi.

About 1.5 million people are affected by the drought, which is linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon (an anomalous warming of the surface waters in parts of the Pacific Ocean which disrupts weather patterns across the globe and is particularly linked with dry conditions in southern Africa).

Cited in a World Food Programme (WFP) press release on Friday, as he left Mozambique, Kamau said “humanitarian assistance needs to be urgently expanded and we need robust plans to reach those who are in need”.

He noted that, of the 200 million dollars needed, only 57 per cent has so far been guaranteed. “We need more, so that we can provide food, water, health care, nutrition and other emergency services for Mozambicans”, he said.

“But we have to understand that the climate is rapidly changing, and we must change with it”, Kamau urged. “We cannot go back to business as usual when this emergency passes. We cannot solve today’s problems with yesterday’s solutions”.

He called for “long term and sustainable solutions in a context in which weather events such as El Nino are increasing in frequency and seriousness”.

Unlike floods or cyclones, said Kamau, “the trail of devastation left by drought can last for years. Some districts in Mozambique have not had rain for three years”.

He said his visit to Magude district, in Maputo province “was a real wake-up call”. He had seen the dry and withered fields, carcasses of animals, and desolate people.

“The people are suffering from lack of food and water, lack of education and lack of prospects”, he said. “We must do better for them”.