Devastating floods in Mozambique are forcing thousands of families to leave their homes to look for refuge in emergency camps. 75,000 people, around half of them children, have already been displaced.

The Zambezi Valley is the most acutely affected, but other areas in Mozambique and neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe and Zambia are also on high alert.

The current floods come on top of flooding early last year from which people have still not recovered.

Only a few weeks into the "emergency" season in Mozambique, a period which lasts from January to April, our worst fears have materialised and with further heavy rains forecast, the situation is likely to deteriorate.

As always, children are the most vulnerable in an emergency. As well as being forced to leave their homes and being separated from their families, the biggest risk for children affected by flooding is life-threatening water-borne diseases, such as diarrhoea.

Save the Children is there helping children affected by the flooding. Save the Children has been present in Mozambique since 1984 and has years of experience of working with families living in the flood-prone regions of the country. We had pre-positioned stocks before the floods and we are already providing assistance and working to keep the lives of children as normal and as safe as possible.

"We know that what children will need most urgently is shelter, clean water to drink and enough food to eat," said Chris McIvor, Save the Children's programme director in Mozambique, "and we are working to keep their lives as normal and as safe as possible."

We’ve now begun distributing emergency kits containing basic necessities such as blankets, eating utensils, soap, water purifiers, rope and plastic sheeting to help build shelter to 7,000 families, who had to flee their homes.

We are putting up some tents as temporary schools where possible for children who have been displaced, in time for the start of the school term in two weeks.

We’re also working with local authorities to ensure that children displaced by the floods are kept safe.

Save the Children New Zealand has been working with communities in Zambezia province since 2003. Our ongoing commitment to HIV/AIDS initiatives is focussed on providing support to at-risk children and their families in Morrumbala, which is close to the flooded Zambezi River basin.

Our work in Zambezia was expanded in late 2007, to incorporate a flood preparedness project in Mopeia, which lies adjacent to the Zambezi River and experienced major flooding this time last year. With an eye on the vulnerability of Mopeia and the surrounding area to seasonal flooding, a preparedness programme for local communities was developed. Being so new, the eight month project had only been running a matter of weeks before the current flooding struck.

Help us help the children and families at risk in Mozambique
As more families are forced into emergency camps, we need your support to reach even more children. Save the Children needs to raise NZ$2.5 million globally to increase our aid efforts to meet the enormous needs.

Please, give whatever you can, so that Save the Children can provide assistance in the form of supplies, shelter material, clean water, food, medical assistance and relief items.

Mozambique Floods Emergency Appeal - donate now:

Donate online
Call our freephone number 0800 167 168 and donate over the phone.

Relevant Links

Thousands flee the flooding in Mozambique: See the Photo Essay
Read the blog of Chris McIvor, Programme Director for Save the Children UK in Mozambique

13 January: Is two bad years in a row impossible?

14 January: Why are there so many emergencies in Mozambique?

15 January: Our Response

21 January: Why not give people the means to buy what they need?