Mozambique: Children worst affected by Cabo Delgado violence, Sweden warns

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Mozambique: Children worst affected by Cabo Delgado violence, Sweden warns

7:50 CAT | 02 Jun 2021

File photo> Twitter & @UNHCRMozambique

Mozambique: Children worst affected by Cabo Delgado violence, Sweden warns
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Maputo, June 1, 2021 (Lusa) – Children are among the worst affected by the war in Cabo Delgado, the Swedish embassy in Mozambique said on Tuesday, calling for lasting solutions for the province.

“The children are among the worst affected by the conflict,” said the document released on the international day dedicated to them.

“We are deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Cabo Delgado. Right now, we are working together with the [Mozambican] government, the United Nations, international and local partners to ensure that people affected by the conflict, including children and women, receive proper care, support and protection. We need to find long-term solutions to give them hope for a better future,” said Mette Sunnergren, the Swedish ambassador.

In the last six months, Sweden has disbursed 63 million kroner (about €6.2 million to assist and protect displaced people and host communities.

About half of the amount has been given to the World Food Programme (WFP), while the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the International Red Cross, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Save The Children, among others, have also received support.

The Swedish aid will ensure the immediate response to the children’s basic needs in terms of shelter, food, medical assistance and medicines, and will have a special focus on child protection and gender-based violence, the statement said.

Following the recent attacks on the Palma district, $5 million (around €4 million) were allocated to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), making Sweden the largest donor to that fund, Sunnergren said.

“We are extremely worried about the humanitarian situation in Cabo Delgado, and long term solutions are needed to those affected”, says Swedish Ambassador @MetteSunnergren

Thanks to @SweMFA contribution and ongoing support, UNHCR can respond to the protection needs on the ground pic.twitter.com/igU5OL7jkR

— UNHCR Mozambique (@UNHCRMozambique) June 1, 2021

Armed groups have terrorised Cabo Delgado since 2017, with some attacks claimed by the Jihadist group Islamic State, in a wave of violence that has led to more than 2,800 deaths according to the ACLED conflict registration project and 714,000 displaced people according to the Mozambican government.

The number of displaced people increased with the attack on the town of Palma on 24 March, an incursion that caused dozens of dead and wounded.

The Mozambican authorities announced they controlled the town, but that attack led oil company Total to abandon indefinitely the site of the enterprise that was scheduled to start production in 2024 and on which many of the expectations for economic growth in the next decade are anchored.

Source: Lusa