To date, mobile health services supported by UNFPA have provided 20,000 women and girls in hard-to-reach areas, who would otherwise have limited access to health facilities, with sexual and reproductive health and GBV services. To this end, UNFPA is supporting the Government of Mozambique to prioritize continuity of life-saving health services linked to sexual and reproductive health, and the prevention of and response to GBV. If women and girls are to feel safe, both physically and emotionally, through the current crisis they must be enabled to give birth safely and be properly equipped to get back on their feet. When we recognize their unique needs as half of the population, then we must acknowledge that Mozambique’s humanitarian crisis response will not achieve the desired results unless women and girls are adequately protected. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by the conflict due to their particular vulnerabilities. Yet they are also at greatest risk of gender-based violence (GBV), poorer health outcomes due to a lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services, and the negative health and economic consequences of gender inequality – all of which impact the humanitarian response and recovery efforts. Of particular concern is the plight of women, who typically form the frontline of such crises as first responders, caregivers to their communities, and rebuilders of livelihoods. Apart from the capital city, Pemba, and Ancuabe district, the delegation visited the most populated part of the province, Chiure district, where some 300,000 inhabitants are host to more than 22,000 internally displaced people. To understand the extent of the crisis and determine the urgent needs of the displaced population, the United Nations Development System organized a joint mission to Cabo Delgado by its Regional Directors. COVID-19 has compounded the problem: critical services such as sexual and reproductive health care, immunization activities, and continuity of care for HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and cholera have been disrupted due to restrictions on movement and gatherings, as well as disruptions to livelihoods. While the number of displaced people continues to surge, protection risks are exacerbated by pre-existing vulnerabilities, including poverty, marginalization, and harmful social and gender norms, such as child marriage. Then as 2021 was being ushered in, the people of Mozambique were lashed once more by Tropical Storm Chalane, with Cyclone Eloise riding on the damage just three weeks later. Throw into this already devastating mix the more recent climate-related disasters of Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, which wreaked havoc in 2019, as well as COVID-19, which emerged as a significant health threat in 2020. More than half of them are women, nearly 15,000 of whom are pregnant, and of these, 1,660 women will require medical services within the month to ensure they deliver safely – yet 36 per cent of health facilities across the province have been damaged or destroyed. Since the conflict started in 2017, more than 2,000 people have reportedly been killed, while women and girls live in fear of being kidnapped, raped, or forced into marriage or prostitution.īy December 2020, close to 530,000 people (nearly a quarter of Cabo Delgado’s population) had fled into the province’s inland districts and neighbouring Nampula and Niassa provinces. From the COVID-19 pandemic to flooding and related disease outbreaks, on top of the ongoing conflict leading to mass displacement, it exists as a perfect storm of instability. In this province has developed one of the continent’s most complex and layered crises, which impact the lives of millions, especially women and girls. The northern tip of Mozambique, the resource-rich land of Cabo Delgado province, presents a growing conundrum. By the time the New Year rang in, more than 1.3 million Mozambicans were in need of humanitarian aid and protection.
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