EMERGENCY: Deadly Cyclone Idai Hits Mozambique

Humanity & Inclusion in Mozambique

Since 1986, our teams have been responding to issues resulting from the country’s 25-year long civil war. 

Since peace agreements were signed in 1992, Mozambique has embarked on a series of political, economic, and administrative reforms. 

The country is recovering rapidly thanks to economic growth, backed by the international community and private investment. However, the biggest threat to stable growth is the rampant spread of HIV/AIDS, poor sanitary conditions, and a very low standard of education.

Our Current Work

In addition to addressing the needs that emerged following Cyclone Idai, Humanity & Inclusion’s Mozambique team of 37 national staff and three expatriate staff works diligently to:

• Promote the rights and social participation of people with disabilities
• Support civil society to improve the social inclusion of people with disabilities

Learn more about these critical actions below.

Ensure All Children Have Access to Education 

In Mozambique, access to quality, inclusive education for children with disabilities is not a guarantee. In order to give every child the best chance for a bright future, Humanity & Inclusion enables children with disabilities to get the quality inclusive education they deserve.

Our team works in peri-urban areas to enhance the quality of inclusive education by:

1. Assessing and filling gaps in the Ministry of Education’s curriculum to ensure it is truly inclusive. This includes producing additional trial modules on inclusive education and providing training and technical support to the teaching staff of the 12 pilot primary schools
2. Working with teachers to ensure their skills, attitudes, and practices are aligned with the needs of all students – including those with disabilities
3. Setting up a peer educators’ system with people with disabilities. This fosters community engagement which in turn improves parent/school links and encourages enrollment and retention of children with disabilities and special learning needs in schools

Humanity & Inclusion also supports the development and application of an Inclusive Education National Action Plan which will broaden the impact of our work, and make a lasting difference in Mozambique.

Empower All People to Access Critical Services

Humanity & Inclusion improves access to social and health services for people in Mozambique with disabilities who live in extremely poor peri-urban areas. How? By supporting and training local service providers. 

The team also oversees an information, guidance, and social support system managed by Disabled People's Organizations (DPOs), who also facilitates access to these services. 

Our Past Work

Humanity & Inclusion has been in Mozambique since 1986, fostering a culture of dignity, access, and inclusion for ALL people with disabilities and who are vulnerable. Over time, we have evolved our work to meet the dynamic needs of the communities where we serve. 

Read on to learn more about our past work in Mozambique, and consider investing in our future.

Mine Clearance

For nearly ten years, teams of Humanity & Inclusion deminers and specially trained dogs were used to clear landmines. This program ended as the country declared itself mine-free in September 2015. 

Victim Assistance

Partnering with districts, NGOs, and service providers, Humanity & Inclusion helped improve the quality of life for survivors of mine accidents and their families by performing a mine survivor needs assessment and promoting a victim aid plan. 

Supporting Organizations of Persons with Disabilities

Humanity & Inclusion helped improve the effectiveness of two social support centers by teaching members how to apply for funding and implement specific projects. 

Literacy

Humanity & Inclusion promoted literacy among people with disabilities in Mozambique by creating inclusive adult reading centers and supporting the “literacy for everyone” campaign on the local and national levels. 

Advocacy Through the Arts

To promote the importance of fully including people with disabilities in society, Humanity & Inclusion curated al multidisciplinary show called Incluarte with a company that included a diverse cast of people with and without disabilities

Watch a video about the 2014 Inclurarte performance.

Resilience and Social Protection

Humanity & Inclusion helped even more people with disabilities get access to social and health centers by supporting Information, Orientation, and Social Support Centers (SIOCS).

In March and April 2019, two consecutive tropical cyclones struck Mozambique. Their winds, rains, and storm surges left a trail of death, injuries, damage, and destruction in their wake. Cyclone Idai, which first struck the city of Beira on March 14, was one of the worst tropical storms on record to affect Africa, and caused catastrophic damage to schools, homes, businesses, and crops. While the storms are long gone, their impact is still palpable: with so many crops ruined, food is scarce, and any expected farming income is gone.

Emergency response

Humanity & Inclusion’s team organized a humanitarian response in the first 24 hours of the emergency. With an office and team in the country since 1986, we mobilized to meet the needs on the ground, with support from local partners.

Once the extent of the destruction was clear to our team, we deployed a logistics expert to strengthen the team already in Beira. Our goal was to understand the immediate needs of the population affected by the storm, with a particular focus on people with disabilities—individuals who are often left on the sidelines during an emergency response.

Six months later

Residents of Beira and the surrounding regions are still recovering from the effects of the Cyclone. Thanks to their resilience, and to Humanity & Inclusion donors for fueling our actions in the collective humanitarian effort, life is slowly returning to normal. But our work won't end until the community is fully back on its feet again. 

Over the long term, the goal of the HI Mozambique team is to provide a sustained humanitarian response to people affected by Cyclone Idai. We will continue to work with those identified as highly vulnerable in order to improve their resilience and mitigate the short and long term impacts of future disasters like this.

Humanity & Inclusion in Mozambique

Humanity & Inclusion has worked in Mozambique since 1986, and is best known there for its work helping victims of landmines and other explosive ordnance left from the country’s civil war. We ran a large demining operation that wrapped up when the country declared itself mine free in 2015. Most recently, staff worked to promote the rights and social participation of people with disabilities, to support civil society to improve the social inclusion of people with disabilities, and in particular to see more children with disabilities enjoy learning in inclusive classrooms! 

Learn more about our work in Mozambique.

Since Cyclone Idai struck Mozambique in mid-March, residents of Beira’s poorest municipalities have faced an uphill struggle to meet their daily needs—food, water, shelter, and health care. Thanks to support from USAID and our donors, Humanity & Inclusion is providing essential aid to the most vulnerable.

Humanity & Inclusion in Mozambique

Humanity & Inclusion has been working in Mozambique since 1986, and is best known there for our work helping victims of landmines and other explosive ordnance left from the country’s civil war. We ran a large demining operation that wrapped up when the country declared itself mine free in 2015. Most recently, staff work to promote the rights and social participation of people with disabilities, support civil society to improve the social inclusion of people with disabilities, and prevent the development of disabilities. 

Since Cyclone Idai struck Mozambique in mid-March, residents of Beira’s poorest municipalities, the ‘barrios,’ have faced an uphill struggle to meet their daily needs—food, water, shelter, and health care.

Humanity & Inclusion’s Atlas Logistics team coordinated the immediate clean-up efforts in these forgotten communities. It was essential to remove debris created by the storm so that humanitarian actors, including HI, could access hard-to-reach areas to deliver aid. Over five weeks, our logistics unit employed 443 local residents, half of whom are women.

Ensuring vulnerable families are included

Today, these impoverished communities face the daunting task of rebuilding. For vulnerable individuals, people with disabilities, older adults, and single mothers, finding the resources to repair or rebuild their homes is even more challenging. That’s why Humanity & Inclusion’s team is identifying vulnerable families in need and providing them with vital support.

Distributing shelter repair kits

Over the next three weeks, we will distribute 2,500 standard shelter repair kits which includes the following items: tarpaulin, rope, nails, washers, hoe, machete, saw, shovel, and hammer

Humanity & Inclusion’s activities

Completed

• Debris removal to provide access to all main roads
• Debris removal in 11 districts of Beira city
• Surveillance and creation of 6 road access maps—shared with all humanitarian actors

Ongoing

• Distribution of 2,500 shelter repair kits to the most vulnerable residents of 10 districts in Beira city
• Distribution of 815 essential household item kits to Humanity & Inclusion’s existing beneficiaries

Humanity & Inclusion in Mozambique

Humanity & Inclusion has been working in Mozambique since 1986, and is best known there for our work helping victims of landmines and other explosive ordnance left from the country’s civil war. We ran a large demining operation that wrapped up when the country declared itself mine free in 2015. Most recently, staff work to promote the rights and social participation of people with disabilities, support civil society to improve the social inclusion of people with disabilities, and prevent the development of disabilities. 

Six months on and the needs are still massive

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Flash floods and mudslides caused by Cyclone Idai have destroyed 90% of Beira, a coastal city in Mozambique. While the storms are long gone now, their impact is still palpable: with so many crops ruined, food is scarce, and any expected farming income is gone.

You can ensure emergency teams and supplies reach the most vulnerable.

Your gift will provide critical aid like:

• direct food assistance, including nutritional treatment for malnourished children;
• clean water, sanitation, and hygiene treatment to combat the spread of cholera;
• shelter and basic needs kits (kitchen essentials, hygiene products, farming tools)
• psychological support to those affected by the Cyclone

Humanity & Inclusion has worked in Mozambique since 1986. We are co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for our work to ban landmines, the 1996 Nansen Prize for our work with refugees, and the 2011 Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the world’s largest humanitarian prize, for our work in Haiti after the earthquake.

*Any funds raised beyond the needs of our emergency response in Mozambique will be used to support other vital programs in the country and around the world.

Photo: Two young boys carry a piece of cardboard over their heads in Beira. © C. Briade / HI

Cyclone Idai struck Mozambique on March 14, killing more than 600 people, injuring more than 1,600, and leaving nearly two million in need of humanitarian assistance. Flash floods and mudslides caused by the storm destroyed 90% of Beira, a coastal city in Mozambique.

Humanity & Inclusion is on the ground, helping survivors. Logistics colleagues are reinforcing capacity and ensuring that hard-to-reach neighborhoods receive vital aid. Thanks to support from USAID OFDA, we're distributing non-food items to the most vulnerable households. In addition, our team of social protection experts are providing psychosocial support to those who need it most.

Humanity & Inclusion has 40 staff in the country. Our staff members are extremely concerned for the welfare of people–especially those with disabilities, older people, and vulnerable individuals.

Help ensure aid reaches people with disabilities, injuries, and vulnerable victims of this disaster.

Mozambique is still reeling from the devastating impact of Cyclone Idai six weeks ago, but has not been spared from further disaster. Cyclone Kenneth struck the north of the country on Thursday April 25.

Shortly after the cyclone struck Mozambique, Humanity & Inclusion’s Claude Briade visited some of the poorest areas of Beira. He describes the poverty-stricken communities: “Ramshackle housing, no regulation, poor hygiene, inadequate health infrastructure. In ‘normal’ times, life is extremely hard in these tangled alleys. What managed to emerge despite this poverty has been completely destroyed by Cyclone Idai.”

For Lucia, a 38 year old single mother of five, the impact of the storm was devastating. In the photo above, she sits in front of what remains of her families’ home a few days after the cyclone. Lucia managed to salvage some possessions from the debris–clothes, a tarp, and bucket–but now faces the challenge of keeping the children dry in a home with no roof and protecting them from disease like cholera. 

Cholera epidemic

Cholera has since taken hold in districts like Lucia’s, with almost 5,000 confirmed cases. That’s why, Humanity & Inclusion will distribute hygiene kits, which include basic items such as hand and laundry soaps, to 8,000 families.

Supporting the most vulnerable

“Humanity & Inclusion has pledged to help the most vulnerable victims of the cyclone: people with disabilities, orphaned and chronically ill children and isolated seniors–many of which can be found in Beira’s forgotten poor communities.”

Improving access to aid

Emergency logistics colleagues are reinforcing capacity and working to open access points to rural areas shut off from humanitarian aid. Our team provided trucks and materials to clear 10 of Beira’s impoverished communities. Local residents are also employed to collect debris and clean the streets.

In addition, HI will also distribute 2,500 shelter and repair kits in these districts to help people rebuild their destroyed homes.

Humanity & Inclusion in Mozambique

Humanity & Inclusion has been working in Mozambique since 1986, and is best known there for our work helping victims of landmines and other explosive ordnance left from the country’s civil war. We ran a large demining operation that wrapped up when the country declared itself mine free in 2015. Most recently, staff worked to promote the rights and social participation of people with disabilities, support civil society to improve the social inclusion of people with disabilities, and prevent the development of disabilities. 

Learn more about our work in Mozambique.

Photo: Lucia in front of the remains of her home, destroyed by Cyclone Idai.

As Claude Briade, a communications officer with Humanity & Inclusion, flew into Beira last week, he could see the scale of destruction that awaited him on the ground. Vast stretches of land covered in water, hundreds of thousands of destroyed rooftops, damaged buildings, and debris scattered every which way. Astonished by the brutal damage caused by Cyclone Idai, Claude gives a first-hand report using his own images.

People with disabilities face exceptional challenges in recovery

The vulnerable survivors face great challenges.

People with disabilities struggle to access aid and information.

Older people get tired of waiting in long lines for humanitarian aid. 

Pregnant women and families with young children have lost their homes.

Humanity & Inclusion is working to ensure that these individuals are included and that they receive the specialized support they need to recover from the disaster. 

Improving humanitarian access

During my first few days in the country, I accompanied Humanity & Inclusion's logistics experts as they evaluated ways to improve delivery of aid: clearing debris, finding new routes to isolated areas, coordinating transporters, etc. The context was exceptionally complicated with expanses of flood water cutting off all roads to some areas. Thanks to combined humanitarian efforts, it is improving rapidly.

Community resilience

As I traveled to various sites across the affected region, I have been struck by the survivors I have met and their resilience. The local population immediately set to work, rescuing, rebuilding, and supporting each other. Here, Humanity & Inclusion's logistics coordinator Fabrice Francois Renoux gathers information in Estaquinha, Mozambique from a local resident. 

Responding the needs of the most vulnerable

Humanity & Inclusion continues to seek funding in order to provide specific support for the most vulnerable Mozambicans in the days and weeks to come. Our current response consists of clearing debris in Beira city, improving access to the Sofala province (population 110,000), and providing food distributions to more than 11,000 households over the next three months. 

Humanity & Inclusion in Mozambique

Humanity & Inclusion has been working in Mozambique since 1986, and is best known there for our work helping victims of landmines and other explosive ordnance left from the country’s civil war. We ran a large demining operation that wrapped up when the country declared itself mine free in 2015. Most recently, staff worked to promote the rights and social participation of people with disabilities, support civil society to improve the social inclusion of people with disabilities, and prevent the development of disabilities. 

Learn more about our work in Mozambique.

Nearly 2 million people in need

Cyclone Idai struck Mozambique on March 14, killing at least 416 people, injuring more than 1,500, and leaving an estimated 1.85 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection.

Providing food relief

Humanity & Inclusion will distribute World Food Program (WFP) stocks of essential food such as rice, vegetable oil, and beans to 12,000 families. This will provide some relief in the coming weeks as people try to rebuild their lives under very difficult circumstances. The WFP estimates that providing essential food to survivors will cost $150 million over the next three months.

Flood waters increase risk of disease

“The risk of communicable diseases has dramatically increased due to stagnant flood water as well as over-crowding in the collective accommodation center, where more than 110,000 displaced people are now staying,” explains Fanny Mraz, Humanity & Inclusion’s emergency director. “There are serious concerns regarding the risk of malaria and cholera outbreaks.”

To help minimize this risk, Humanity & Inclusion will distribute hygiene kits, which include basic items such as hand and laundry soaps, to 8,000 families.

Crops ruined due to flooding

The cyclone caused flooding on a colossal scale. 1.2 million acres of crops have been destroyed. The impact will be felt immediately as the majority of crops were near ready for harvest.

Water levels are thankfully now lower, but an estimated 1160 sq. miles of land remains submerged.

Humanity & Inclusion in Mozambique

Humanity & Inclusion has been working in Mozambique since 1986, and is best known there for our work helping victims of landmines and other explosive ordnance left from the country’s civil war. We ran a large demining operation that wrapped up when the country declared itself mine free in 2015. Most recently, staff worked to promote the rights and social participation of people with disabilities, support civil society to improve the social inclusion of people with disabilities, and prevent the development of disabilities. 

Learn more about our work in Mozambique.

Photo: Mozambicans walk among flooded fields.