DRR IN
Mozambique Mozambique is considered to be one of the most vulnerable countries to natural disasters. According to the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction, Mozambique is the 3rd most vulnerable country in Africa to disaster risks. Extreme events take the form of drought, flooding, tropical
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cyclones and forest fires. There are particular concerns around the impacts of climate change on peoples’ livelihood assets (health, water and infrastructure) as well as the impacts on food production which will ultimately undermine Mozambique’s overarching goal of reducing extreme poverty.
Save the Children’s Presence in Mozambique Save the Children has been operating in Mozambique since 1984 and works in both relief and long-term development. Save the Children focuses our work on interior rural areas, where most Mozambicans live. The majority of families in these areas rely solely on rain-fed farming for their living and are extremely vulnerable to floods, drought and crop diseases. HIV/AIDS is dealing severe blows to rural livelihoods as well. Save the Children works to address these challenges by strengthening food security and fighting child malnutrition and improving health, especially during the “hungry season”; improving children’s access to high-quality early childhood development and basic education; promoting child protection; and expanding HIV/AIDS programs to help stem what the government has called a “national emergency.” Save the Children is an active member of the Emergency Committees at district level in the areas affected by floods and cyclones, where we are involved in capacity building to strengthen the commissions as a member of the District Emergency Operations Committee (COE). We work with children and communities to disseminate knowledge on disaster preparedness and response, health and safeguarding livelihoods from the effects of disasters.
early treatment and save lives as malaria is the number one killer of children under five in Mozambique.
Climate Change Save the Children is leading the implementation of the Africa Climate Change Resilience Alliance (ACCRA) in Mozambique. ACCRA is led overall by Oxfam with Care International, World Vision and ODI and also works in Ethiopia and Uganda. The purpose of this program is to increase the use of evidence by governments and other development and humanitarian actors in developing and implementing policies and interventions that improve poor people’s resilience to climate related hazards. In Ethiopia, Mozambique and Uganda specific communities and interventions will be targeted for research, which will generate new primary data on the effectiveness of different combinations of interventions in increasing vulnerable communities’ resilience to climate change. This research will also serve as a pilot in the practical use of the framework and inform its development. Alongside this research, we will implement national level advocacy and capacity-building activities to improve the policy and practice of government actors.
DRR activities with children and communities Save the Children distributed the “River Game” to schools (covering approximately 10,000 students) in disaster-prone areas along with short workshops to instruct teachers, community leaders and children from the child parliament on the use of the board game. The game is an alternative way of teaching a disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness that was informative and stimulating. The “river game” was then used in the community to sensitize flood-prone community, both adults and children, on how to prepare for and respond to natural disasters.
Strengthening livelihoods, building resilience and supporting adaptation Save the Children initiated the Flood Plain Management project covering Tambara, Mopeia and Morrumbala districts in the Zambezi valley to enhance resilience of communities living along the Zambezi Valley to the impact of hydro-meteorological disasters by reinforcing livelihoods and community sub-granting where communities identify activities to reduce risks to their livelihoods. Save the Children is also implementing a livelihood strengthening project in the semi arid areas of Gaza province increased resilience through the promotion of cashew trees and vaccination of chicken against Newcastle disease and cash for work on district/community development projects.
Strengthening the health system Save the Children created an early warning and health surveillance system. By monitoring and surveying the health at the community level there can be immediate detection of potential epidemic outbreaks. For example, early detection of malaria can promote
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Above: Falesse watering the field where she now grows onions and tomatoes, as part of an irrigation project implemented by Save the Children in Zambezi Valley, Mozambique. Cover: A little girl walks through a flooded road, Mozambique. In the last four years, Mozambique has suffered from successive floods in the central region which have affected millions of people causing food shortages and the spread of diseases such as cholera.