Maputo, May 6, 2026 (Lusa) - The United Nations (UN) announced it has allocated almost $98 million (€83.4 million) since the start of 2026 in emergency funding to support people affected by armed conflict and natural disasters in Mozambique.
According to a statement from UN humanitarian coordinator Catherine Sozi, released Wednesday by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA, the body that coordinates global emergency aid), the funding comes as Mozambique faces "multiple interlocking challenges."
These include "ongoing violence" in the north, linked to armed group attacks, and severe flooding in recent months that has destroyed infrastructure and restricted essential services for affected people.
"The amount includes $83.3 million [€70.9 million] from the East and Southern Africa Humanitarian Fund (ESAHF) and $14.5 million [€12.3 million] from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), both managed by OCHA," the coordinator said in the document seen by Lusa.
The UN agency said the funding would help meet urgent community needs, including food for families who lost crops and income, safe drinking water where sources were flooded or contaminated, and medical aid for those without basic services.
Funding also supports emergency shelter and essential assistance for people who lost their homes, focusing on protecting women, children, and those at risk of violence.
Aid efforts will target the country’s northern provinces Cabo Delgado and Nampula, specifically the districts the extremist attacks have affected, including Macomia, Mueda, Nangade, Quissanga, Érati and Memba.
The support will also focus on regions affected by January floods in central and southern Mozambique, including Chokwe, Guija, Massingir, and Chibuto in Gaza, Buzi in Sofala, and Manhica and Magude in Maputo" where communities continue to recover from recent disasters."
“At a time of significant economic pressure, this funding is crucial to save lives, reduce suffering, restore access to safe water and basic sanitation, prevent disease outbreaks and ensure families can meet their basic needs. This funding will contribute to the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), which requires $534 million [€454.5 million] to reach 1.7 million people with humanitarian assistance nationwide,” the document added.
The UN said on 30 March it needed more than €300 million for the 2026 urgent humanitarian response plan for 1.1 million people due to the northern conflict but had secured less than a third of that amount. An OCHA report says the 2026 HNRP requires $348 million (€302.5 million) “to address the most urgent humanitarian needs” of those affected by the armed insurgency in 17 districts in Cabo Delgado, two in Nampula, and one in Niassa.
The document notes the "funding gap" is worsening with an additional $187 million (€162.5 million) needed to mitigate the effects of the current rainy season floods.
These floods killed 300 people, and the funding aims to "support 620,000 flood-affected people in southern districts."
Gas-rich Cabo Delgado has faced extremist attacks for eight years, with the first recorded on 5 October 2017, in the Mocímboa da Praia district.
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