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EU ambassador visits cyclone-affected Beira, Sofala; focus on rebuilding – Mozambique
1:47 CAT | 11 Apr 2019
Photos: União Europeia em Moçambique
The European Union (EU) ambassador to Mozambique, António Sánchez-Benedito, said on Wednesday that the international community was focused on the reconstruction and recovery of the areas affected by Cyclone Idai a month ago.
“We are thinking about the reconstruction phase. The EU with its main partners, the United Nations, is carrying out a needs assessment that will serve as a basis for a more structural response,” the diplomat said following a visit to the operations of assistance supported by European funding in the city of Beira.
The EU representative expressed concern about the level of destruction he witnessed in the province of Sofala, and said the current priority was the reconstruction of infrastructure, especially in the worst-affected areas.
“We are talking about a response to a humanitarian crisis right now, and the Mozambican government is preparing an international reconstruction conference,” he noted.
This conference would be the best opportunity to “craft a long-term development strategy linked to post-cyclone and flooding reconstruction,” he added.
In Sofala, Sánchez-Benedito visited Beira Central Hospital (HCB), water purification projects and healthcare operations supported by the European Union, and participated in the distribution of food in Búzi, one of the districts most affected by the floods.
“The material that was delivered today is part of emergency humanitarian aid such as rice, beans, but also food supplements for children, health products and water,” he explained. “But we have seen that it is not easy to reach these districts,” he added, acknowledging the logistics difficulties of the support operation.
The EU has channelled more than 9 million Euros and activated its civil protection support mechanism, mobilising doctors and medicines for the emergency.
Cyclone Idai made landfall on the central region of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe on March 14. According to the latest assessment by the Mozambican authorities, the cyclone caused 602 deaths and 1,641 injuries, affecting more than 1.5 million people in central Mozambique.
Zimbabwe’s authorities revealed on Monday that the cyclone caused 344 deaths there, with at least 257 people reported missing in the eastern part of the country.
Source: Lusa
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