At least 1.6 million children in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi still need urgent assistance in the wake of last month’s cyclone disaster, according to UNICEF.
More than 1,000 people are feared to have died after Cyclone Idai devastated parts of all three nations when it made landfall in the Mozambique port city of Beira on 14th March and then moved inland to Zimbabwe and Malawi. The cyclone, which is estimated to have destroyed 90 per cent of Beira, flattened buildings and flooded entire communities with windspeed up to 170kph.
About three million people were affected by the cyclone with the World Bank this week estimating the economic cost to be $US2 billion.
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H Fore speaks with internally displaced people during a visit to a secondary school in the port city of Beira, Mozambique, which was used to shelter evacuees from Cyclone Idai. PICTURE: © UNICEF/UN0291731/Prinsloo
The UN child-focused agency said that children needed help in the areas of healthcare, nutrition, protection, education, water and sanitation including more than a million children in Mozambique, 443,000 in Malawi and 130,000 in Zimbabwe.
In Mozambique alone, cholera cases have surged to 4,600 and malaria cases to 7,500 since the cyclone.
UNICEF is particularly worried about the more than 130,000 children, mostly in Mozambique and Malawi, who have been displaced by the cyclone.
Henrietta Fore, UNICEF executive director, said that children living in crowded shelters or away from their homes are “at risk of diseases, exploitation and abuse”.
“The road to recovery will be long. It is imperative that humanitarian partners are there every step of the way. We need to help children and families survive and then get back on their feet.”
UNICEF has launched a $US122 million appeal to aid those affected by the cyclone.
