Mozambique: ICRC Calls On Respect for Civilians, Ramps Up Support to Mozambique Red Cross Response to a New Wave of Displacements in Cabo Delgado

Nearly 100,000 people, more than half of them children, have been displaced in one month due to an escalation of armed violence in Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique. The new wave of displacements is taking place against the backdrop of a protracted cholera outbreak, heightening the risk of infectious diseases for displaced families and host communities, who share crowded accommodations with poor sanitation.

“It is heartbreaking to see so many women and children traumatized and exhausted,” said Catherine Gendre, the Head of the Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Maputo. “We call on all the armed actors to spare civilians from harm and respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.”

Some 46,000 people fled from the Chiure district of Cabo Delgado into Nampula province in search of safety. Many families have been separated, and unaccompanied children find themselves highly vulnerable. The ICRC works with the Mozambique Red Cross (CVM) to facilitate phone calls, reconnect families, and register unaccompanied minors.

Despite several humanitarian organizations’ efforts, there is still a desperate shortage of hygiene items, water purification products, mosquito nets, and blankets to alleviate the suffering of the displaced people.

José Campira, CVM Nampula branch Provincial Secretary

The ICRC is supporting CVM’s efforts to prevent the spread of cholera by promoting hygiene and distributing household essentials among displaced families. In the past few days, 300 households in Namapa, Erati district, received hygiene kits and household items with support from the Belgian Red Cross, Swedish Red Cross, Spanish Red Cross, and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

In Cabo Delgado, the ICRC conducted rapid assessments of needs in the northern districts, where thousands have been displaced several times since December when violence significantly increased. It will work on emergency interventions to assist the most vulnerable people in these districts, as well as longer-term projects to provide clean water and sanitation.

In Cabo Delgado, the ICRC helps people affected by the armed conflict. In cooperation with the Mozambique Red Cross, it works to reunite separated families, improve access to healthcare, clean water, and sanitation, and improve livelihoods, while promoting the respect of international humanitarian law.