Mozambicans donated US$36 million to cyclone and flood victims

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambicans donated US$36 million to cyclone and flood victims

2:23 CAT | 01 Apr 2019

in file CoM

In the last 15 days, Mozambican civil society has been mobilizing to provide assistance to almost two million Mozambicans affected by Cyclone Idai and floods in the central provinces, especially Sofala.

Figures from the National Institute of Disaster Management indicate that national citizens, organized in several solidarity organisations and including companies, contributed more than 4,000 tons of diverse products, worth US$33 million, either delivered to the INGC or channeled directly to those affected. Monetary amounts contributed totalled US$3 million dollars.

In all, 112 institutions and individuals donated products and 84 contributed cash. International aid now totals more than 45,000 tons of miscellaneous products, some of which has already been delivered to INGC, and some yet to be delivered.

All this has allowed the government to assist the more than 800,000 people in need of urgent help. However, aid may be needed for more than six months in order to restore the minimum conditions needed for those affected to return to normal life.

And in order to ensure that the donated aid actually reaches the recipients, INGC has taken a series of measures aimed at controlling the entire product management cycle, from its arrival at the airport and port of Beira, its customs clearance, transport to a warehouse owned by a private company contracted to manage it, and even delivery to the victims.

Laurindos Saraíva from Unidos For Beira (United for Beira), a civil society movement which amassed 70 containers of various products for the victims, has now been invited by the INGC to assist in distribution and monitoring, in order to ensure assistance to victims is as transparent as possible.

However, it is acknowledged that the weakest link in the aid chain is the community leaders and ward secretaries who, after receiving products, take a long time to hand it over. On the other hand, there are complaints that there are opportunists who, despite having been affected, are not in need but are nonetheless competing for food products with those who have nothing to eat.

150 centres have been set up in the four provinces affected to host the victims of the cyclone and the ensuing floods, the Mozambican government and its international partners there assisting them with shelter and food. Almost a thousand technicians and experts from various humanitarian aid organisations based in more than 20 countries are currently in Sofala helping families who have lost everything in the calamities that hit the centre of the country. Last week, the government called search and rescue processes to a halt, as practically no communities were any longer besieged by flood waters.

Source: O País