Mozambique’s Minister of Transport and Logistics said on Monday, 12 January, in the United Arab Emirates, that the country has stood out in the region for its capacity to mitigate and reduce the negative impacts of extreme weather events, with a particular focus on reducing human losses, according to the Lusa news agency.
“Mozambique is a coastal country that has, in recent years, been cyclically hit by extreme events, and we have become almost a reference in mitigation actions and in reducing negative impacts, especially with regard to fatalities,” said João Matlombe, who is part of the official delegation accompanying President Daniel Chapo on a working visit to the Middle Eastern country.
According to the minister, despite the intensity of the rainfall currently being recorded in several regions of the national territory, the country has managed to handle complex situations with low mortality levels, becoming a reference in Southern Africa.
“This result is the outcome of the work that the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction and several multi-sector government institutions have been carrying out as mitigation measures. We cannot prevent extreme events, but the way we deal with them has been a successful experience and one that can be shared with other countries,” he stressed.
João Matlombe explained that part of this experience is being presented at the sustainability summit, with the aim of sharing good practices with the United Arab Emirates and other international partners.
Since last week, Mozambique has been experiencing heavy rainfall across almost the entire national territory, a situation that led the National Institute of Meteorology to issue red alerts for heavy precipitation accompanied by thunderstorms, causing flooding mainly in the central and southern regions of the country.
In Maputo Province, two temporary accommodation centres are currently operational in peripheral neighbourhoods of the capital, according to information provided by the Mayor of Matola, Júlio Parruque.
Mozambique is considered one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, frequently facing floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, which runs from October to April. Between 2019 and 2023, extreme events caused at least 1,016 deaths and affected around 4.9 million people, according to official data.
