Development partners have pledged US$1,2 billion (R17,5 billion) to support recovery interventions as Mozambique deals with the devastation caused by cyclones Idai and Kenneth.
This is almost half of the total the Southern African country requires for post-cyclone recovery and reconstruction in the social, productive, and infrastructure sectors in affected areas.
The funding is to ensure successful recovery and reconstruction in the Cabo Delgado, Inhambane, Manica Nampula, Sofala, Tete and Zambezia provinces.
The pledges follow international pledging conference in the central city of Beira where development partners committed financial and technical resources.
A Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), which is a comprehensive technical study conducted and led by the government of Mozambique and supported by the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), World Bank and the African Development Bank, informed the consensus-building discussions.
According to the PDNA, Mozambique needs US$3,2 billion (R46,64 billion).
This is to address such issues such as gender, environment, employment and livelihoods, social protection and governance.
“The important point coming out of this conference is that this recovery needs to be resilient,” said Noura Hamladji, UN Development Pogramme representative at the conference.
The envoy highlighted Mozambique was prone to climate change disasters and the cyclones were not a one-time event.
“Unfortunately and the probability of these disasters reoccurring, many times in the future, is very high,” said Hamladji.
Idai hit central Mozambique on March 15 leaving a trail of destruction, including human life loss.
It is one of the worst natural disasters to have impacted Africa.
Within six weeks, Kenneth made landfall across the northern coast leaving more than 1000 people dead while more than 500,000 others were displaced.
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