INGC must have Mozambican CSOs present at reception, packaging and distribution of aid to cyclone victims, says CIP

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INGC must have Mozambican CSOs present at reception, packaging and distribution of aid to cyclone victims, says CIP

5:12 CAT | 26 Mar 2019

Photo: Miramar

Mozambique’s Public Integrity Centre (CIP), a non-governmental watchdog, says civil society must be involved in the management of aid channelled to the victims of Cyclone Idai by the country’s National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC).

“Given the level of mistrust that prevails over the INGC’s control and management systems, the Institute should involve credible civil society organisations or citizens of recognised merit, as well as organised religious institutions and other entities,” the CIP has said in a statement.

These civil society organisations must be present at the reception, packaging and subsequent distribution of aid to those affected by the cyclone.

“These entities would give greater credibility to the process and would confirm, afterwards, whether a rational and transparent use of the resources made available in all its aspects would have occurred,” the note adds.

The CIP notes claims that mistrust that aid to cyclone victims may not reach those affected prevails.

“The reasons for this are related to the lack of clarity in the control and management of aid by the entity in charge,” the statement says.

The fears about the lack of transparency are also due to the increasing levels of corruption in the country, especially in the public sector, the text reads.

The CIP points out that cooperation partners have been hesitant to provide direct aid to the government, especially regarding monetary donations, and asks whether the INGC has created an internal unit to detect violations of good governance standards, as it has promised.

Cyclone Idai’s passage through Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi caused at least 762 deaths, according to the most recent official figures. In Mozambique, the number of confirmed dead rose to 447. In Zimbabwe, 259 were killed, and in Malawi the authorities recorded 56 dead.

The coastal city of Beira, in Mozambique’s central region, was worst hit by the cyclone, which struck on the night of March 14.