Cyclone Idai Joint Respone

About the crisis

Deadly cyclone Idai made landfall just North of Beira City, Mozambique, in the early hours of the 15^th of March 2019, and moved inland towards Malawi and Zimbabwe. According to UNOCHA, as of 25 March, the official death toll in Mozambique was 447 – with authorities expecting the toll to continue rising. Several hundred people more are still missing and almost two million people are in need of aid and basic services across the region as flooding has destroyed homes, hospitals, schools and agricultural land. Prior cyclone-related flooding had already displaced 17.000 people and thousands more have been displaced as a direct result of the cyclone.

The Dutch Relief Alliance response 

Six member organizations of the Dutch Relief Alliance (DRA) work together, initially for six months, to provide life-saving assistance, protection, dignity and safety to people affected by cyclone Idai in Malawi and Mozambique.

Approximately 129.900 people will benefit from activities in the Southern Region in Malawi and in Sofala and Manica Province in Mozambique, in the following sectors: WASH interventions will serve to improve health and hygiene conditions in affected regions and will include the provision of sufficient quantity and quality of safe water, sanitation facilities and latrines and hygiene kits.The joint response will see measures put in place to improve food security, including distribution of food items and agricultural inputs, and will provide vulnerable people with emergency shelter and other Non-Food Items (NFI). Additionally, child protection is addressed through psychosocial support, child-friendly spaces and child protection case management services. A safe-learning environment will be established through the provision of temporary learning spaces.

The joint response is carried out by six partners from DRA: CARE Nederland, Cordaid, Oxfam Novib, Save the Children, Tearfund NL and World Vision. All these partners have access and existing structures in the two countries to operate. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs supports the joint response with an amount of €3,5 million.

Photograph by Tina Kruger/Oxfam