Salvation Army helping displaced families in Mozambique
Salvation Army helping displaced families in Mozambique
14 May 2021
The Salvation Army is helping families fleeing intensifying violence in northern Mozambique’s Cabo-Delgado Province.
The Salvation Army in Mozambique is continuing to assist families fleeing their homes in the north of the African country after the latest round of violence in Cabo-Delgado Province, specifically in the coastal town of Palma.
Lieutenant Delfina Zualo, the Army’s Assistant Project Officer in Mozambique, described as a “sad situation” the growing numbers of refugees fleeing the area and the daily stories of “disappeared relatives”.
Government figures indicate 10,000 people have now fled Palma after the latest attacks in late March.
Delfina said the Army had helped more than 300 hungry families with food and soap. “Each family received 25kg of rice, 5kg of beans, two litres of cooking oil and five bars of soap,” she said.
“From the assessment done in Nampula [the capital city of Nampula Province in north-eastern Mozambique], these families are in a serious need, which affects them physically, emotionally and physiologically. The right to life with dignity is destroyed.”
The spread of COVID-19 is also a concern.
“After supporting them with food items, now the need is mostly on non-food items [such as] blankets, tents, pots, cups, clothing and some school materials for school-aged children,” Delfina said.
The government and other aid agencies were helping to provide temporary shelter and resettlement sites, water and healthcare but many of the refugees “are still not able to access the basic services,” according to Delfina.
The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said children accounted for half of the population displaced by the ongoing conflict in the oil and gas-rich Cabo Delgado province.
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