At least 1.2 million people benefited in 2025 from humanitarian assistance funded by the Mozambique Humanitarian Fund, which disbursed $2.3 million to address the effects of armed insecurity and extreme climate events across the country.
The figures are drawn from the annual report of the Mozambique Humanitarian Fund, a mechanism managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) under the Eastern and Southern Africa Humanitarian Fund (ESAHF).
The report estimates that approximately 1.3 million people required humanitarian assistance in Mozambique during 2025, against a backdrop defined by the ongoing insurgency in Cabo Delgado, recurring cyclones and floods, disease outbreaks, and other acute vulnerabilities.
Fund resources financed multi-sectoral assistance operations in the districts of Macomia and Quissanga in Cabo Delgado, as well as rapid-response mechanisms for cyclones, floods, and cholera outbreaks across different regions of the country.
One of the report's principal findings concerns the localisation of the humanitarian response. Approximately 96% of the $2.3 million allocated by the fund was channelled directly to national and local non-governmental organisations, reinforcing response capacity among affected and hard-to-reach communities.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Mozambique Catherine Sozi said the mechanism's first full year of operation demonstrated the importance of a response anchored in local organisations. "Localisation is not simply a policy aspiration, but an operational reality," she stated, highlighting the role of national organisations in delivering assistance to some of the most inaccessible areas of Cabo Delgado.
The report identifies the north of the country as one of the regions where humanitarian needs remained most critical. Insecurity driven by armed groups continued to generate displacement, protection concerns, and assistance needs in Cabo Delgado and parts of Nampula and Niassa provinces.
The escalation of violence in Cabo Delgado affected more than 134,000 people throughout 2025, while approximately 300 individuals are reported to have been abducted since January by non-state armed groups, according to the document.
The situation was compounded by cyclones Chido, Dikeledi, and Jude, which struck the country between December 2024 and March 2025, causing damage to infrastructure, housing, and livelihoods and deepening assistance needs across the northern and central provinces.
Although focused on Mozambique, the Humanitarian Fund forms part of the regional humanitarian response mechanism for Eastern and Southern Africa. In 2025, the ESAHF received contributions from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, and Estonia, totalling $3.3 million, equivalent to approximately €2.8 million.
Mozambique Remains Among the Most Climate-Vulnerable Countries
For Catherine Sozi, the experience of 2025 demonstrated that a response built on national partners makes it possible to deliver resources to "those who need them most, quickly and effectively," particularly in communities affected by conflict and natural disasters.
Since 2017, Cabo Delgado has been confronted by an armed insurgency that has killed more than 6,600 people and displaced over 1.2 million. Since 2025, attacks have also extended to sporadic incursions into the neighbouring provinces of Niassa and Nampula.
In parallel, Mozambique continues to rank among the countries most exposed to the effects of climate change, regularly facing floods, tropical cyclones, and other extreme weather events during the rainy season. Data from the National Disaster Risk Management and Reduction Institute (INGD) indicate that the most recent rainy season caused 311 deaths and affected approximately 1.07 million people across different regions of the country.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/09/12/desenvolvimento-2/fundo-da-onu-aplicou-23-m-em-assistencia-humanitaria-em-2025/
