Biden’s administration offer Aid worth $ 5 million to victims of Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique

WASHINGTON - The US government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), granted three humanitarian assistance awards totaling $5,750,000 to the World Food Program (WFP), International Organization for Migration (IOM), and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to provide urgent assistance to the victims of Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique.

The US also obligated $450,000 to Care International to support the distribution of shelter and water, sanitation, and hygiene kits. USAID also supports Save the Children and International Development Enterprises (iDE) to assist households to participate in the second planting season. Total US emergency assistance for victims of Cyclone Freddy now exceeds $6 million.

“We are deeply concerned about the devastating impact of Cyclone Freddy on the people of Mozambique,” said US Ambassador H. Peter Vrooman. “This assistance will provide critical support to address the urgent needs of Mozambicans.”

The funding will provide 30 days of emergency food assistance to 135,000 people and shelter kits to over 7,500 households, along with extensive water and sanitation support. The funds will also be used for the rapid rehabilitation of health facilities, including damaged water infrastructure. Other activities include water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions to help contain the spread of cholera. In the hardest-hit Zambézia province, emergency funds will provide mental health and protective support for people in emergency shelters.

Tropical Cyclone Freddy struck Mozambique in February and March 2023, causing widespread destruction and displacement of communities. A total of 169 people lost their lives as a direct result of Freddy and almost 700 were injured.

Over a million Mozambicans have been affected by Tropical Cyclone Freddy and over 130,000 houses have been totally destroyed.
It's estimated that over 50,000 people are still displaced from their homes. Freddy made landfall just as harvest season had arrived, which places more people at risk of hunger.

The US government is the leading international donor of humanitarian assistance in Mozambique.

The Biden’s administration humanitarian funding in 2022 alone totaled $176.7 million supporting the most vulnerable from the conflict-torn communities in northern Mozambique and those affected by increasingly extreme natural disasters throughout the country.

GAROWE ONLINE