OCHA Situation Report
Mozambique: Floods
5 March 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Prepared by the UN Resident Coordinator Emergency Communication Team

SITUATION OVERVIEW

1. Teams are still assessing the situation in the Vilanculos area to
measure the impact of Cyclone Favio. The army is present to provide
support. Four accommodation centres are up and running. There is an air
bridge from Beira to Caia for food supplies. The basin of the Buzi-river
is flooded.

2.  The INGC reported a heightened cyclone activity during the past
months in comparison to other years. This risk will remain during March
2007. Once the situation in the Zambezi area is under control, the INGC
will deploy more staff to Vilanculos. The Council of Ministers has
reduced the alert level from red to orange, indicating that the
emergency phase is gradually developing into the recovery phase.



|--------+------------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----|
| River  | Population | Affected  |           |          | NAC |
| Basins |at Risk (PR)|Populations|           |          |     |
|--------+------------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----|
|        |            |Cumulative | Accom.    |  Restl.  |     |
|        |            |           | Centers   | Centers  |     |
|--------+------------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----|
|Zambezi |    285.000 |   163.045 |   107.534 |   55.511 |  40 |
|--------+------------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----|
|Buzi    |     12.800 |     1.966 |     1.966 |        0 |   5 |
|--------+------------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----|
|TOTAL   |    297.800 |   165.011 |   109.500 |   55.511 |  45 |
|--------+------------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----|

01/03/2007 (source: INGC - Maputo)



RESPONSE

Shelter Cluster

3. The combined total declared commitment for shelter in the Zambezi
area will cover 58% of the total affected population with emergency
shelter. CARITAS has committed to covering the emergency shelter needs
of 1,220 families and could extend this with further funding.

4. No long term displacement is foreseen in the Vilanculos area as
people are already returning to their homes to rebuild roofs. The major
need at present is the supply of roofing materials as people are
starting to go back to rebuild their houses. There is an urgent need for
expertise and knowledge to incorporate cyclone risk factors into the
rebuilding of shelters. Currently, technical assistance and capacity to
implement is lacking. Any organizations with the capacity to implement
shelter needs in the cyclone affected areas should contact the cluster
lead (IFRC and UN-Habitat)

Food Cluster

5. WFP has purchased locally 1,700 tons of maize meal through CERF-funds
for the Zambezi area. All accommodation centres in the area are provided
with food supplies for one to two weeks.

Logistics Cluster

6. WFP provided one Cessna 10-seater airplane operating an air link
between Beira and Caia. One helicopter is already operational, a second
one will be on stand-by in a couple of days. The INGC reported that the
management of air transport must be increased, as there have been
complaints of NGO's that they are not briefed on availability of air
transport facilities. Some of the donated boats are not capable for
operations in high waters. The INGC is requesting for high capacity
boats to facilitate delivery of assistance to some of the areas that can
not be reached by road or air.

Education Cluster

7. Cluster partners under the lead of UNICEF and Save the Children
Alliance (SCA) have focused on providing learning materials in
accommodation centers and establishing temporary structures (tents) for
schools in areas without schools.

8. Temporary accommodation centres which are difficult to access
continue to be a priority both to provide learning materials to children
and also temporary education facilities (tents).

Protection Cluster

9. Assessments to identify orphaned and vulnerable children have been
conducted in accommodation centres in Sofala, Zambezia and Tete
provinces and activists to provide psycho-social support have been
identified through the support of the Ministry of Women and Social
Action, the Mozambican Red Cross, SCA and UNICEF.

10. Training on psycho-social support and the protection of women and
children is being conducted in Zambezia and Sofala provinces by SCA and
in Tete and Manica provinces by HIV Alliance and SCA.

11. Training on the prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation for
humanitarian workers is being conducted in Caia, and will expand to
cover Mopeia and Chimoio over the coming week - Supported by SCA and
UNICEF.

12. Training in the protection of women and children, particularly
against gender-based violence is being provided for police deployed in
accommodation centres in the province of Zambezia. Logistic support has
been provided to the police to ensure that each camp has 24 hour
policing.

13. Mine risk assessments have been initiated by Handicap International
in the area of Caia and will take place over the coming week in Tambara
and Guro districts. Mine risk education training has also started in
Caia.

14. There is a need to ensure follow-up on psycho-social training
provided and monitor the implementation of the organized recreational
activities in coordination with trained activists. Particular attention
needs to be paid to monitoring of psycho-social activities implemented
in camps with difficult access in Tete and Manica. There is also a need
for logistic support to ensure that police are present in camps with
difficult access.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Cluster

15. The old water supply system, linked to an electrical grid, is down
in Vilanculos. The pumping station of the second water system, operated
by diesel generators was not affected by the cyclone and provides water
to 60 % of the city. Three small solar powered water supply systems are
operational and 4 water bladders have been organised. A rapid needs
assessment is necessary to organise a disease surveillance system to
monitor the outbreak of waterborne diseases such as cholera.

16. Government, UN and NGO partners have agreed on the division of
labour to ensure that all accommodation centres in affected provinces
are covered with water, sanitation and hygiene interventions. As of 28
February, all centres had been divided between the partners, including
those in remote locations. A number of NGO partners are scaling up their
operations in the area of water and sanitation, including Oxfam and
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

17. More latrines must be built in the Caia area. Currently there is one
latrine for every 50 people. This will be increased to one for every 20
people in the coming days.  As these are too close to the water
supplies, there is an increased risk for the spread of cholera.

COORDINATION

18. The nine clusters in the Mozambique context mirror the sector
working groups created in the national and regional CENOEs, and have
contributed to a more coordinated, timely and reliable approach to
humanitarian response to the flood and cyclone. All clusters are
operational in the Zambezia area. Only four are operational in the area
hit by cyclone Favio. Replication of the cluster approach in the field
is ongoing for all affected areas.

19. Field assessments have indicated that structural and operational
support is required to meet humanitarian needs in accommodation and
resettlement sites both in the Vilanculos and the Caia-area. IOM is
appealing for funds to deliver technical support to government's Camp
Coordination and Management (CCM) efforts at Centers for Displaced
Persons in affected areas. IOM is leading on this with partners,
including UN Habitat, IFRC, UNICEF and NGOs, working in coordination
with the INGC. The CCM-support aims to streamline registration of
affected persons, monitor the Non-Food Items (NFI) pipeline networks,
mitigate and make recommendations on HIV/AIDS prevention, consider
environmental matters related to emergency sites and promote a
gender-based approach to activities in centers. The humanitarian
community will discuss the potential establishment of a Camp
Coordination and Management cluster.

20. Due to the increase in the figures of people displaced by the
flooding in the Zambezi basin and the impact of Cyclone Favio in the
Inhambane Province, there is a growing gap between the pipeline and the
identified needs.

21. An Interagency Map Center has been established to support
humanitarian efforts in response to floods and cyclone in Mozambique It
operates on Zimbabwe Ave, 1302, Maputo - +258 (21) 482 200. The facility
is currently being hosted by WFP Maputo at the request of the UN RCO,
supported by the OCHA Regional Office for Southern Africa. The
Interagency Map Center will help disseminate web data repositories,
alerts data bulletins, the catalogue of available datasets and maps and
printed copies of maps, statistical tables and charts. The Map Center
will also support the "Who does What Where"-data collection and mapping
activities. Participating organizations to date are WFP and OCHA SAHIMS,
supported by the mapping units in organizations like JACANA, IFRC,
UNICEF and INGC.

22. MSF and the IFRC have largely harmonized the contents of the tool
kits that will be procured and distributed to families affected by the
floods in the Zambezi Basin. This effort, facilitated through the
cluster, will increase the equity of aid distributed and reduce the
potential for conflicts or aid-induced population movements.

23. Additional staff from the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Eastern
and Southern Africa support clusters in integrating HIV/AIDS in their
response. They work with partners in planning HIV/AIDS emergency
responses and brainstorm around capacity development.

24. There is a lack of information flow and capacity building to the
affected population on cyclone preventive measures. People will go back
and start rebuilding their houses in the same way. Save the Children has
produced 200,000 leaflets in local languages on cyclone preparedness to
be distributed to the population in the affected areas.

FUNDING

25. As part of an overall Response Plan for Mozambique, the UN and the
wider humanitarian community will shortly launch an appeal for urgent
humanitarian needs responding to the cyclone and the floods through the
CAP Unit in OCHA Geneva. The appeal will cover needs identified by the
various clusters currently operational in response to this crisis. An
update on the details of the appeal will follow next week.

26. Similarly, the government is currently preparing to present a
rehabilitation plan likely to be launched in the coming week. To ensure
that the two appeals are complementary in scope, the humanitarian
community is awaiting further details from the Government in order to
finalize the humanitarian component of the Response Plan.

Contact Details:

In case of emergency only: Tel. +41-22-917 20 10

UN Resident Coordinator (Mozambique) Mr. Ndolamb Ngokwey, Tel: +
258-21-485-158

OCHA Regional Office for Southern Africa (South Africa) Ms. Kelly David,
Tel: + 27-11-517-1609

Emergency Communication Team Mozambique
  Mr. Luis Zaqueu, Tel: + 258-21 485-159

Desk Officer
  NYC - Ms. Mette Tangen, Tel: + 1-917-367-3001

Press contact:
  GVA - Ms. Elizabeth Byrs, Tel. +41-22-917 2653
  NYC - Ms. Stephanie Bunker, Tel:  +1-917-367-5126

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