Starting this year, Mozambique will receive a total of 10.5 million pounds (12 million euros) in humanitarian support from the United Kingdom, an official source announced this Friday.
“Mozambique has received an additional £7.55 million as part of the Commonwealth Overseas and Development Office’s global humanitarian response. [quase nove milhões de euros] for its humanitarian programme,” the UK embassy said in a statement.
Its reinforcement is justified by the armed conflicts the country experiences in the north of Mozambique and the natural disasters it faces cyclically, and support is guaranteed for at least the next three years.
“The most vulnerable people bear the brunt of these events, so we want to reach these people in an adequate and timely manner,” Helen Lewis, the UK High Commissioner to Mozambique, was quoted as saying in the document.
This support, made available through non-governmental organizations, will be used for pre-emptive measures and preparation for disasters or displacement, as well as for issuing birth certificates and national identity cards to vulnerable populations.
“The expectation is that this increase will allow us to reach an additional 250,000 people over the next three years and provide predictable funding to existing partners,” the document added.
Since October 2017, Cabo Delgado province has already experienced a humanitarian crisis in the north of the country, with over a million people displaced by attacks and infiltrations claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
The country is also considered one of the countries most affected by climate change in the world, experiencing cyclical floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season between October and April.
