Emergencies
 A canoe filled with people navigates across flood waters in central Mozambique January 13, 2008. Hundreds of families have fled raging floodwaters which swamped scores of small towns and large areas of agricultural land in Mozambique's central Sofala province, Radio Mozambique reported on Sunday. REUTERS/Grant Lee Neuenburg (MOZAMBIQUE) (Copyright: Save the Children Australia)

Mozambique Floods

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Devastating floods in Mozambique are forcing thousands of families to leave their homes to look for refuge in emergency camps.  75,000 people, around half of them children, have already been displaced.

The Zambezi Valley is the most acutely affected, but other areas in Mozambique and neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe and Zambia are also on high alert.

The current floods come on top of flooding early last year from which people have still not recovered.

Only a few weeks into the "emergency" season in Mozambique, a period which lasts from January to April, our worst fears have materialised and with further heavy rains forecast, the situation is likely to deteriorate.

As always, children are the most vulnerable in an emergency. As well as being forced to leave their homes and being separated from their families, the biggest risk for children affected by flooding is life-threatening water-borne diseases, such as diarrhoea.

Save the Children is there helping children affected by the flooding.  Save the Children has been present in Mozambique since 1984 and has years of experience of working with families living in the flood-prone regions of the country.  We had pre-positioned stocks before the floods and we are already providing assistance and working to keep the lives of children as normal  and as safe as possible.

"We know that what children will need most urgently is shelter, clean water to drink and enough food to eat," said Chris McIvor, Save the Children's programme director in Mozambique, "and we are working to keep their lives as normal and as safe as possible."

We’ve now begun distributing emergency kits containing basic necessities such as blankets, eating utensils, soap, water purifiers, rope and plastic sheeting to help build shelter to 7,000families, who had to flee their homes.

We are putting up some tents as temporary schools where possible for children who have been displaced, in time for the start of the school term in two weeks.

We’re also working with local authorities to ensure that children displaced by the floods are kept safe

  

Help us help the children and families at risk in Mozambique

As more families are forced into emergency camps, we need your support to reach even more children. Save the Children needs to raise AU$2.3 million globally to increase our aid efforts to meet the enormous needs.

Please, give whatever you can, so that Save the Children can provide assistance in the form of supplies, shelter material, clean water, food, medical assistance and relief items.

 

Mozambique Floods Emergency Appeal - donate now:

  • Donate online
  • Download a donation form [Adobe PDF, 52 Kb] and post it or fax it to us, or
  • Call our toll free number 1800 76 00 11 and donate over the phone.

 

Relevant Links

Link Arrow. Arrow (Copyright: International Save the Children Alliance)Media centre - Save the Children Australia: contact Sharyn Hanly:  +61 3 9938 2011 or Mob: +61 (0)437 355 096