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Highlights
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The security situation in Cabo Delgado remains fluid; in January over 12,000 people were on the move.
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Mozambique is responding to a cholera outbreak in four provinces with over 2,500 cumulative cases and 19 deaths (Sept 2022-Jan 2023)
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In hard-to-reach areas of Cabo Delgado, UNICEF supported 8,000 displaced families with health and nutrition supplies
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UNICEF provided MHPSS support to 4,638 children and supported the identification and tracing of 26 separated children
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UNICEF supported PSEA training for 271 government staff and community actors in Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
2023 started with over 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the north due to conflict and a cholera outbreak in 2 provinces. In Cabo Delgado Province, where over 525,000 of the IDPs are children, the needs are substantial and exacerbated by limited partners and limited funding in an environment of conflict and limited access. Basic services, including health and education, require flexibility amid the continuous population movements; and access to safe water and sanitation remains inadequate. And in the places of origin of those who are displaced - which have been inaccessible for several years - services are extremely limited, even as displaced people now return to those areas. Women and girls face great exposure to the risks linked to poverty, exploitation and harmful practices. Girls and boys are increasingly exposed to child rights violations, gender-based violence and other protection risks found in situations of children in armed conflict. Additionally, women remain largely excluded from access to income and decision-making and face limited availability of services.
In January 2023, due to prevailing insecurity in Cabo Delgado, 12,118 people—48 percent children—were on the move.
Main districts of origin are Mueda, Montepuez, Muidumbe and Macomia. Of these movements, 979 people returned to their areas of origin. The major triggers for these movements include intention to return, attacks, fear of attacks, family reunification. In Nampula and Niassa provinces, similar movements were reported, where 335 people were on the move –62 percent children—due to attacks and intention to return to areas of origin2 .
An estimated 46.3 percent of children in Mozambique experience multidimensional poverty. Nationally, chronic undernutrition has resulted in one of every two children stunted, and severe wasting prevalence ranges nationally from 1.2 to 4 percent. The prevalence of HIV among adolescents remains extremely high, at around 6.2 percent in girls and 2.5 percent among boys. This is the backdrop to increasing displacement, a heavy rainy season and an increasing cholera outbreak which started in September 2022 continued into January 2023. In January, in part due to the spillover of cholera from neighbouring Malawi, cases increased substantially and spread into new areas with four provinces reporting cases; Niassa, Sofala, Gaza and Zambézia. As of January 31, cholera was reported in 14 districts with a total of over 2,600 cases. Over 70 percent of the reported cases are from Niassa followed by Sofala with 26 percent.