Mozambique have had a severe year recovering from the landfall of Cyclone Idai in March 2019; rebuilding lives and infrastructure after the worst tropical cyclone in years.
More than a year for the natural disaster which ripped lives and communities apart, thousands are still reliant on emergency aid which is under threat from the pandemic. Thousands of people are still living in tents without permanent infrastructure such as fresh water or sanitation systems. As COVID-19 is halting the global economy, the construction of these vital infrastructure is being diverted to halt the spread of the invisible killer.
To accentuate the spread of COVID-19 amongst vulnerable communities, resettlement camps have been created, as designated areas of land in the region, assigned by the government to accommodate the hundreds of thousands displaced by the cyclone. An example of these is Njdeda and Mutua resettlement camp. These areas are hotspots for the harbouring and rapid spread of the virus, with vulnerable people living in close, cramped conditions without running water and sanitation facilities.
Mozambique is the 28th most vulnerable country to climate change in the world and one of the poorest. Intensifying their humanitarian struggles is the increasingly erratic weather, trapping people in a vicious cycle of vulnerability and instability.
What is being done?
CO2balance, with our in-country partner Village Water, are continuing whilst meeting the national restrictions, to rehabilitate non-functioning water points in remote, vulnerable communities who are in the crisis of recovering from Cyclone Idai and trying to prevent their contracting coronavirus. An additional project activity we are implementing in response to COVID-19, is the installation of handwashing stations known as ‘tippy-taps’ at each of the water points. These are accompanied by small training teams for using them effectively.
