Mozambique Asks For Aid In Wake Of Deadly Cyclone

Mozambique asks for UN food assistance in wake of deadly cyclone

18 March 2008 - The Mozambican Government has asked the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to provide emergency assistance for one month to 60,000 people in the north of the country who are still suffering from the impact made by Cyclone Jokwe earlier this month.

WFP will start distributing food assistance to cyclone-affected communities early next week, drawing on existing stocks that had been earmarked for other operations, the agency said in a press release issued yesterday in Maputo, the Mozambican capital. About $550,000 is now needed to quickly replenish those stocks.

Along with national authorities, other UN agencies and aid organizations, WFP is conducting a rapid-needs assessment in the province of Nampula, the area hit hardest by the cyclone. At least eight people were killed as a result of Jokwe, which struck the Mozambican coast on 8 March with winds of up to 200 kilometres per hour, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless.

Numerous power lines were also knocked down, cutting off electricity and water supplies to several towns and villages, while heavy rains led to some flooding.

Both WFP and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) have already mobilized staff to the affected areas in northern and central Mozambique.

ENDS

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