MOZAMBIQUE (March 19, 2008) – CARE is seeking $475,000 to aid families who lost their homes and livelihoods after Cyclone Jokwe struck Mozambique on March 7-8.
The cyclone, which destroyed more than 30,000 houses and left more than 100,000 people homeless, tore through mangroves, destroying local shrimp production and devastating small agricultural holdings just a month short of harvest.
The misery of those left without shelter has been added to by an unusual cold wave.
This latest disaster follows massive floods in January, which left an estimated 240,000 people homeless. The government’s resources to respond to disaster and the capacity of local relief agencies have been stretched to the breaking point.
“The first priority is to provide shelter,” says Barbara Jackson, CARE’s Country Director in Mozambique.” We are also concerned that people may cut down even more mangroves in order to rebuild their houses. That would put their future livelihoods and the local ecology in danger.”
CARE, which has also been working together with the World Wildlife Fund on conservation and to provide livelihoods, wants to provide emergency shelter for at least 500 of the most vulnerable families. It will bring in wooden poles and shelter materials, in order to keep people from denuding local trees.
CARE is also planning to provide seeds to replace the harvest lost in the storm, and CARE will coordinate with the UN’s World Food Program in their program to distribute emergency food rations. The fact that so many people have been displaced from the flooding in January and February and are now depending on relief is further stretching coping mechanisms.
About CARE: Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE Package, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE has more than six decades of experience delivering emergency aid during times of crisis. Our emergency responses focus on the needs of the most vulnerable populations, particularly girls and women. Women and girls are at the heart of CARE’s emergency relief efforts because our experience shows that their gains translate into benefits for families and communities. CARE has been working in Mozambique since 1986, and has played an important role in supporting emergency preparedness.
For more information, please contact:
Bill Dowell, CARE International, Geneva, [email protected]