The agency warns that a million people residing in Cabo Delgado could be affected
November 11 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The World Food Program (WFP) has warned this Friday that it could be forced to suspend its operations for the benefit of one million people in northern Mozambique by February 2023 due to lack of funds, given the possibility of a famine in this area of the African country.
The director of the WFP in Mozambique, Antonella D’Aprile, has indicated that the decision should be taken “unless additional funds are urgently received” before the peak of the “hungry season” in the country, estimated for the month of February. .
Thus, he recalled that the province of Cabo Delgado, shaken by insecurity due to the operations of jihadist groups, is the “most insecure in terms of food” and added that the situation “continues to deteriorate.”
“About 1.15 million people in the province are suffering from a hunger ‘crisis’ or ’emergency’ and the latest data suggests that the situation could deteriorate even further,” said D’Aprile, who also recalled that the violence it has intensified in recent months with “unprecedented attacks” in districts near the capital, Pemba, and Nampula province.
These attacks have caused new population displacements, with close to a million internally displaced people in the last two years, despite which the WFP “has been delivering emergency assistance to a million displaced people, also in previously inaccessible areas such as Macomia , Muidumbe, Nangade, Palma and Quissanga, although he has had to cut back on rations in recent months.”
“While working to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, WFP is also working to increase resilience-building activities among vulnerable communities, supporting 44,000 people in land recovery and production in Cabo Delgado,” he explained, according to a statement. published by the organization.
In this sense, he has emphasized that “the WFP is also providing nutritional supplements to prevent and treat malnutrition among children under five years of age and pregnant and lactating women”, before stressing that the situation of the organism “is worrying from long ago” and that “they are running out of options” to maintain their operations.
“In addition to the challenges in funding relief operations, WFP is facing a lack of funding for the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) and has requested a total of $51 million (a figure similar in euros) to maintain its operations.
Lastly, D’Aprile stressed that the WFP “will strive to maintain vital assistance to the most vulnerable groups, including the most malnourished, malnourished children, pregnant and lactating women”, although he has warned that “there are many which cannot be helped unless additional funds are urgently received”.
The Mozambican authorities have highlighted in recent months an improvement in the security situation in the area due to joint operations with Rwandan special forces and troops deployed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), although the crisis humanitarian situation remains very serious.
Cabo Delgado has been the scene since October 2017 of attacks by Islamist militants known as Al Shabaab, unrelated to the group of the same name that operates in Somalia and maintains ties with Al Qaeda. Since mid-2019, they have mostly been claimed by the Islamic State in Central Africa (ISCA), which has intensified its actions since March 2020.
