2007 Floods and Cyclone: Mozambique humanitarian situation update, 19-21 March
Major Developments On 17 March, strong gales hit the districts of Chókwè and Guijá in the province of Gaza. The worst affected areas were the administrative posts of Manjangue-Macarretane in Chókwè and Chinacanine in Guijá. Preliminary data from the National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC) Emergency Operations Centre indicate that one person was killed and five wounded in the gales, which also partially destroyed over 900 houses, the majority of them in Manjangue-Macarretane. In terms of education facilities, information from preliminary assessments undertaken by the Ministry of Education and Culture indicated that 5 classrooms and one residence were damaged in Chókwè district and 10 classrooms, one warehouse and one administrative building were damaged in Guijá district. In terms of health facilities, information from an assessment conducted by the Ministry of Health indicated that two health centres were damaged, one in Manjangue-Macarretane, the other in Chinacanine. In the area of WASH, an assessment mission in affected areas was conducted by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, which found no reports of damage to water and sanitation facilities. A UNICEF Officer travelled to the area on 19 March to support the assessments and UNICEF has been liaising with sectoral counterparts to provide the necessary supplies for the immediate response, including tarpaulin for the damaged schools and latrine slabs for the damaged health facilities. The health centre in Chinacanine is already using two UNICEF pre-positioned tents as temporary health facilities. Preparations are continuing for the rapid food security and nutrition assessment to be conducted in flood, cyclone and drought affected areas by the national Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC). The survey will draw on secondary data (particularly from the 2006 VAC baseline survey) and will include both qualitative and quantitative components, in addition to anthropometric data collection in areas affected by the floods and the cyclone. The main aims of the assessment will be:
1) TROPICAL CYCLONE FAVIO Needs Assessment The Government in Vilanculos officially declared an end to the immediate humanitarian response phase in cyclone affected areas on 10 March. With the transition to the rehabilitation phase underway, focus is being placed on the development of strategies and action plans for the rehabilitation of infrastructure and essential services damaged or destroyed by the cyclone. UNICEF Response UNICEF is continuing to provide logistical support to the INGC for the distribution of the remaining non-food items provided by other agencies, in line with the master distribution plan. Particular support is being provided in the area of education; a UNICEF Education Officer is working with the local authorities to monitor the use of supplies for the rehabilitation of education facilities. UNICEF has also been providing technical support to the INGC on the development of strategies for the rehabilitation phase, which are being developed by working groups established in the areas of infrastructure, water and sanitation, social services and agriculture. The consolidated rehabilitation strategy, including inputs from all four working groups, is expected to be finalised by the end of the week. 2) ZAMBEZI FLOODS Needs Assessment The UNICEF teams based in Caia (Sofala province), Mopeia (Zambezia province) and Mutarara (Tete province) are continuing to work with Government, UN and NGO partners to monitor the immediate and medium term needs in flood affected provinces. The priority concerns according to the INGC are sanitation and hygiene/health education. The preparations for resettlement are continuing, under the leadership of provincial Governments, with the process of plot demarcation. UNICEF Response WASH In all affected provinces, UNICEF is continuing to work with Government and NGO partners to ensure complete coverage of centres with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions. Communication and community mobilisation activities on hygiene promotion supported by UNICEF and cluster partners are ongoing in accommodation centres in the four flood affected provinces, including video projections on the promotion of good hygiene practices by multimedia mobile units and sessions on hygiene promotion undertaken by community theatre groups. While the process of resettlement is ongoing, in addition to supporting ongoing implementation of water and sanitation interventions, UNICEF will focus on working with partners to assess the need to rehabilitate existing boreholes and handpumps and drill new boreholes in the areas adjacent to resettlement centres as they are being identified. Health UNICEF is continuing to work with cluster partners to support the local health authorities in assessing the health situation in the centres, identifying appropriate referral facilities, and conducting activities including epidemiological surveillance, cholera prevention (no cases have been registered), drug distribution, immunisation, malaria spraying and the distribution of insecticide treated nets (ITNs). To date, UNICEF and partners have distributed approximately 77,000 ITNs. With support from UNICEF, child to child radio programmes and broadcasts by community radios on cholera prevention are being broadcast in Portuguese and local languages from 14 to 31 March in all affected provinces. While the process of resettlement is ongoing, UNICEF will focus on supporting the local health authorities and other partners to monitor the health situation and needs, to consolidate and disseminate information and to maintain sufficient supplies in health facilities in affected areas. Nutrition UNICEF is continuing to support the local health authorities and other partners in ongoing activities under the supplementary feeding programme in affected areas, which is underway in the districts of Caia, Marromeu and Chemba in Sofala province, Mopeia and Morrumbala in Zambezia province, Mutarara in Tete province and Tambara in Manica province. The current available figures indicate that an estimated 8.176 children have been screened under the programme across the four flood affected provinces; 694 of them were found to be moderately malnourished, of which 685 have been supplemented with BP5 – a type of compact food – 40 severely malnourished children have been referred to hospital for appropriate case management, 8,727 children have received deworming and 7,876 children have received Vitamin A supplementation. While the process of resettlement is ongoing, UNICEF will focus on supporting the local health authorities and other partners to conduct ongoing nutritional surveillance and to continue implementing activities under the supplementary feeding programme. It is anticipated that the emergency supplementary feeding programme will need to continue for at least three months, following which the needs will be reassessed. The programme will continue in those three districts in which it was already operational before the floods, while the focus of UNICEF and partners will shift towards interventions targeting chronic malnutrition (such as infant and young child feeding, the promotion of breastfeeding and nutrition education). UNICEF is also providing technical support to the planning of the VAC food security and nutrition assessment, particularly in terms of liaison with the Ministry of Health on the planned anthropometric component of the assessment. Education UNICEF is continuing to work with provincial and district education authorities and NGO partners to distribute education and recreation materials to schools affected by the floods in Zambezia, Tete and Sofala provinces in line with the agreed distribution plan. Save the Children Norway is covering Manica province. In the majority of affected areas, school tents have been distributed and are in use, and education materials have been delivered. In addition to supporting the distribution of the remaining supplies, cluster partners are now shifting focus towards monitoring the quality of education provided. While the process of resettlement is ongoing, UNICEF will place increased focus on supporting the local education authorities and other partners to monitor the quality of education provided. This will include support to School Council members to enable them to mobilise communities to send their children to school, particularly girls and orphaned and vulnerable children, and to keep them there; support to School Directors to monitor the quality of education provided and ensure that they practice participative school management methods; support to teachers through training in child friendly learning-teaching methods; and support to monitoring and support supervision, to ensure a sufficient level of quality in the education provided. Protection UNICEF is continuing to focus, with other partners, on consolidating the training on the prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation and on the provision of psycho-social support to the most vulnerable in flood affected areas. Training has now taken place in all provinces, with community and NGO activists, representatives of the Ministry of Women and Social Action and the Ministry of Interior and other partners providing support in the field. In Tete province, 55 activists have been trained on psycho-social support and 60 activists have been trained on protection against abuse and sexual exploitation. In Sofala province, 70 activists have been trained on protection issues. In Zambezia province, 38 activists have been trained on protection issues. In Manica province, 18 activists have been trained in psycho-social support. Training on protection issues for police deployed in accommodation centres is also ongoing, with support from UNICEF. In Tete province, 34 police officers have been trained, in Sofala province, 41 police officers have been trained and in Zambezia province, 36 police officers have been trained and provided with support. In Manica, the second phase of the police training is expected to be finalised by the end of the week. In relation to the ongoing mine risk education activities conducted by Handicap International with the support of UNICEF, a total of 17 mine risk education agents have been trained in Chemba, Marromeu and Caia and training is in progress in Mutarara (for a total of 9 agents from Tete, 1 from Zambezia and 3 from Manica). The distribution of mine risk education materials and community sensitisation is ongoing. With UNICEF support, a total of 4,000 basic emergency kits and 60 recreation kits have been sent to all affected areas and their distribution is ongoing. While the process of resettlement is ongoing, UNICEF will focus on supporting the local authorities and other partners to undertake ongoing monitoring of the protective environment in accommodation and resettlement centres, in order to ensure a continual police presence, an appropriate psycho-social environment for children and ongoing support for the most vulnerable. Support will be provided for the establishment of community committees responsible for the protection and support of orphaned and vulnerable children. Programme Communication UNICEF is continuing to support communication and community mobilisation activities in centres across all of the affected provinces, including video projections on the promotion of good health and hygiene practices by multimedia mobile units, sessions on hygiene promotion undertaken by community theatre groups and radio spots on HIV prevention and good hygiene practices broadcast in Portuguese and local languages. A micro-questionnaire has been developed to evaluate the different programme communication interventions in order to assist planning for the coming weeks. Longer term programme communication activities are being planned, and are likely to include: the formation of theatre groups in the most remote centres/resettlement areas in close coordination with NGO partners; training of activists and community radio programmes supporting the various centres; and the production of radio programmes with community radios. Baseline data on knowledge and attitudes on cholera and malaria will be collected through focus group discussions, to be used in the development of the radio programmes. Inter-Agency Collaboration and Key Partnerships The Terms of Reference for the Inter-Agency Real-Time Evaluation have been circulated by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to the Humanitarian Country Team for inputs. The current list of cluster leads and participants is provided below: Logistics Food Security Telecommunications Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Nutrition Health Education Protection Emergency Shelter Early Recovery
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