Humanitarian response

Summary of Assessments

Mutarara District - Jardene, Nhumbo and Nkuleche Resettlement Centres

• A multi-sectoral team consisting of UNICEF and partners conducted assessments in three resettlement centres in Charre area.
• All three resettlement centres are coping with the influx of new evacuees and approximately 3,100 people are living in the resettlement centres.
• The recently resettled community has started the construction of basic homes.
• Existing services are over-stretched. Temporary latrines have been constructed, but access to safe water is limited. As a result two cholera cases have been reported in Nkuleche resettlement centre.
• Currently there is only one primary school and one health post in Nhumbo centre which serve the resettlement centres. 

UNICEF Response

Management and coordination

• The water and sanitation group has been activated in Caia. Coordination continues at the national and sub-national level in all clusters. 
• INGC daily briefings and cluster meetings continue, with an overall focus on coordinating the response and reporting on results of activities.

Health and Nutrition

• Malaria cases have been reported in some of the resettlement centres. As an initial response, malaria nets have been distributed; and the house spraying programme will resume on 24 January. Other malaria prevention initiatives are on-going including community radio broadcasting of malaria prevention radio spots and health education activities that are carried out by CVM. 
• In Charre, the local health authorities are conducting training for CVM activists on cholera and malaria prevention. CVM activists, mobile units and other partners are carrying out health and hygiene promotion activities in the resettlement centres.
• Active screening activities have started in Buzi and Govuro districts and close to 200 children have been screened with 18 found to be malnourished. Vitamin A and de-worming tablets are being distributed in both districts. Initial data are being compiled for these and other districts will be assessed by partners. The Ministry of Health has prepared a distribution plan for 18 MT of BP-5, to allow a rapid start-up of the supplementary feeding programme in all flood-affected districts. Nutritional surveillance will take place in all 17 resettlement centres in Caia area from 24 January onwards.

Water and Sanitation 

• Training of 14 activists on management of water treatment plants has started in Mutarara district.
• UNICEF and partners are procuring additional WASH supplies to supplement the pre-positioned supplies which are being distributed. Supplies include 40,000 bars of soap, 20,000 buckets, 30,000 bottles of certeza and 20,000 jerry cans.
• CEDES, CVM and UNICEF are working in resettlement centres in Caia to provide safe water and sanitation facilities to displaced families.
• The national water authorities and the WASH Cluster are developing a concrete emergency response plan which will be discussed and finalised in a meeting to take place in Caia from 24-27 January. The plan will take into consideration all WASH-related issues including medium-term needs.

Education

• Temporary learning facilities and learning materials have arrived in flood affected areas, including 15 school tents measuring 72m². The Education Cluster is coordinating distribution of the tents in collaboration with the Logistics Cluster. Five Humanitarian Country Team partners are involved in the distribution of learning materials, setting up tents, supporting teachers and school councils, and monitoring quality and access to schooling in flood affected areas.
• Two tents have been set up in Govuro district and learning materials are ready for distribution in time for the school-term which begins on 28 January.
• The Ministry of Education has confirmed that a sufficient number of teachers will be allocated to resettlement centres. This is to ensure that access to and quality of education are provided to all new learners arriving in resettlement centres. 

Protection

• The Ministry of Interior has deployed 318 police staff in 15 districts. Police staff will assist in preventing, monitoring and reporting cases of sexual abuse and violence in the resettlement centres. 
• Training of local officials and partners on protection issues including violence against women has been completed in Zambezia and is on-going in Tete province.
• Registration of orphans and vulnerable children is on-going, and the distribution of OVC kits has started in a number of resettlement sites.

Logistics and telecommunication support

• A VSAT ground station is fully operational at the central operations base in Caia, providing internet and voice connectivity to all humanitarian actors and the INGC.
• The VSAT station in Mutarara, which belongs to World Vision International, has been repaired with support from UNICEF and partners. Actions are being taken to upgrade the VSAT’s bandwidth in order to better respond to the humanitarian community’s needs.
• UNICEF’s third base in Mopeia is fully operational and field staff has been trained in use of BGAN in order to ensure connectivity.
• Inter-Agency Collaboration and Key Partnerships
• The Humanitarian Country Team organised a meeting with donors on 23 January to summarise the priorities of the emergency response and to outline the process of developing the Sub-Regional request. Various donors expressed their interest to review and support the request. 

For more information, please contact:

Lisa Doherty
Emergency Officer
Tel: +258 82 3179160
ldoherty@unicef.org

Thierry Delvigne-Jean
Communication Specialist
Tel: +258 82 3121820
tdelvignejean@unicef.org

Annelien Groten
UNICEF Emergency Situation Centre
Tel: +258 84 2354355
agroten@unicef.org

Lynda DeGuire
UNICEF Emergency Situation Centre
Tel: +258 82 784 9501
ldeguire@unicef.org