Mozambican authorities are stepping up efforts to raise awareness among communities about the need to leave areas prone to natural disasters, just over a month before the start of the new rainy season, a task made more difficult by resistance from local populations.
“We are raising awareness, we are working with people, we are working with communities and local leaders so that people leave risk areas,” said Leovigildo Marcos, director of the Post-Disaster Coordination and Reconstruction Division of the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD).
Marcos was speaking in Maputo on the sidelines of the National Forum on Housing, Land and Tenure Security and Durable Solutions for Internal Displacement, organised by INGD in coordination with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), under the theme “Secure Land, Decent Housing, Sustainable Future”.
Leovigildo Marcos acknowledged the difficulties involved in convincing people to leave homes built in areas prone to flooding, describing it as an ongoing awareness-raising effort carried out together with communities and local leaders.
“People’s mindset is complicated,” he said, acknowledging the resistance encountered on the ground to moving families out of areas considered at risk.
The official recalled that Mozambique currently has around 663,000 internally displaced people as a result of natural disasters and armed conflicts, living in accommodation centres, and called for concrete solutions to ensure their safety.
“We must all explore our maximum capacity to identify and implement concrete actions for the well-being of internally displaced people. Financing these actions must be at the centre of our plans and work programmes in all sectors involved in supporting displaced communities,” he added.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Mozambique, Catherine Sozi, called for coordinated efforts to address the needs of internally displaced people and create conditions for their safe return to their areas of origin.
“We know there are challenges related to land tenure. We also know that, when land tenure is not formally granted to them, even having shelter or a house that will not be destroyed again next time is a challenge. Therefore, let us seek solutions together to help people,” she said.
For the UN representative, the two-day forum provides an opportunity to turn policies into action, learn from the experiences of different provinces and communities, and identify practical solutions that can be scaled up.
“The UN remains firmly committed to supporting the Government of Mozambique in turning the durable solutions agenda into concrete results for everyone living in this beautiful country. Count on the United Nations on this journey,” she added.
According to the latest regional report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Mozambique had around 662,000 internally displaced people as of 30 June, including 438,000 displaced by conflict and violence and 224,000 as a result of natural disasters.
The country has the fifth-highest number of internally displaced people in Eastern and Southern Africa, behind Sudan, with 8.7 million, Somalia (3.3 million), South Sudan (2 million) and Ethiopia (1.9 million).
