As if the problems in Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, were no longer sufficiently large, in the face of the Jihadist attacks that caused at least two thousand deaths and more than half a million displaced people in the province, now food aid is becoming scarce.
“Without additional funding, which is urgent, the World Food Program (WFP) will be forced to reduce food portions or decrease the number of beneficiaries as early as December. In other words, in a week, ”said the UN agency in a statement.
The internally displaced in Cabo Delgado, which are concentrated around Pemba, the district capital, even begin to reach more southern provinces, such as Nampula and Niassa. The scale of the tragedy surprised PAM, which in January supported around 29,000 people. Currently, the agency has reached “a record 331,630 beneficiaries, among those displaced by the conflict supported in October”.
“The magnitude of this emergency” stretched the available resources to the maximum, read the statement. “The number of internally displaced persons increases every week, which puts pressure on WFP’s operational plan and capacities”, he stresses, adding that “the health and socioeconomic crisis caused by the emergence of the new coronavirus” makes “the mobilization of resources even more challenging ”. “We are facing a situation of underfunding throughout the year, which in a week will already be lack of financing”.
WFP needs eight million dollars a month (about 6.7 million euros) to provide assistance to those fleeing the conflict in northern Mozambique. In other words, 96 million dollars (some 80 million euros) for the next 12 months with a view to “reaching around 750 thousand internally displaced people and welcoming communities in the coming months”. However, “only 11.7 million dollars (9.8 million euros) are guaranteed,” the agency told Lusa.
Cabo Delgado is home to the largest private investment in Africa to explore natural gas, but has been under attack by insurgents for three years. Some of the attacks have been claimed by the Jihadist group Daesh since 2019.
In Pemba, “fear hangs in the air,” Salvador Forquilha, director of the Institute for Social and Economic Studies, told SOL. “People come every day from the areas affected by the conflict.”
“We were with families that, from one day to the next, started to have more than 60 people in their household, they are more mouths to feed”.
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