An EU-funded humanitarian flight with 15 tonnes of cargo provided by Italy and Portugal is due to arrive on Saturday 3 July in Pemba, the capital of the Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique.
The preparations, starting in Brindisi, Italy, took place on 30 June on the margins of a G20 ministerial meeting, organised with the World Food Programme, on the role of logistics in humanitarian preparedness and response to the pandemic and future humanitarian and health crises.
“The humanitarian situation in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate”, stressed the Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, thanking Italy and Portugal for their contribution in getting “vital aid to this hard to reach part of the country”.
Two more flights are expected to depart from Brindisi in the coming days.
Almost two million people in Mozambique are currently facing severe food insecurity due to the security situation, drought and the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis and 1.3 million people are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance and protection in Cabo Delgado and the neighbouring provinces of Niassa and Nampula.
Since the beginning of the year, the EU has mobilised more than €17 million in humanitarian aid for Mozambique, mainly to address the consequences of the conflict in Cabo Delgado. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)