Estimated 375,000 children at high risk in Mozambique after Cyclone Jude hits the country - UNICEF

MAPUTO, 13 March 2025 – The third cyclone to hit Mozambique in as many months has destroyed schools, cutting nearly 20,000 children off from education, and damaging or destroying over 20,000 homes, initial reports suggest. An estimated 747,000 people, half of them children, are expected to be affected by the high winds, torrential rain, and flash flooding which hit Mozambique’s northern provinces of Nampula, Niassa, and Zambezia this week.

Cyclone Jude, which made landfall in Nampula province on the morning of Monday, 10th March, brought winds of up to 195 km/h and torrential rain. The cyclone caused extensive damage to infrastructure including roads, water and electricity systems, health facilities, and schools. Initial reports suggest that 17,000 children have been cut off from learning, with this figure expected to rise in the coming days.

Severe flooding is exacerbating the risk of waterborne diseases, including cholera and diarrhea – major threats to the lives of children. Meanwhile, serious damage to major roads is disrupting the distribution of lifesaving supplies.

This comes at a time when over 730,000 Mozambicans were already suffering from the devastating impacts of Tropical Cyclones Chido and Dikeledi, which had destroyed or damaged over 150,000 homes, 471 schools, and 100 health facilities.

“The impact of Cyclone Jude on hundreds of thousands of children and families already reeling from cyclones Chido and Dikeledi is proving devastating. Extreme winds and heavy rainfall have laid waste to critical infrastructure and are cutting vulnerable children off from essential services, said Mary Louise Eagleton, UNICEF Representative in Mozambique.

“UNICEF is working with our partners and Government to respond and meet the most needs of those affected, but after having already responded to two cyclones in the space of just a few months, we are overstretched and in urgent need of additional resources.”

Ahead of the cyclone’s arrival, UNICEF and partners prepositioned supplies, including teaching and learning materials, medications, water purification tablets, and cholera prevention kits, which are now being distributed to affected communities.

However, the scale of the crisis far exceeds current resources in a country where 3.4 million children were already in need of humanitarian assistance, and the current cyclone season is due to last six more weeks.

UNICEF urgently calls on donors, governments, and the international community to increase and sustain funding for education and emergency response efforts. Without immediate intervention, the future of an entire generation of Mozambican children is at stake.

Multimedia content (drone footage, photos, and videos) is available here.