Humanitarian Response in Northern Mozambique – Health Cluster Bulletin No. 7 (July 2024) – Mozambique

By 2023, after several months of relative calm, the population of returned refugees had increased significantly, reaching 601,866 people by the end of the year. During the first quarter of 2024, there was a wave of violence in the northern districts. This situation has led to a new wave of displacement, affecting even those who had previously returned. It also led to a collective reevaluation of the humanitarian situation. More than 51,000 displaced people affect 12,000 households, affecting 30,000 women, 11,000 children and 3,000 people with disabilities. Attacks on the health care system in Chiure district, including the burning and looting of health facilities and the resulting displacement of health workers with the population, have disrupted health care. The overcrowded health care system, together with the terrible living conditions for displaced people and limited access to health care, water and sanitation, result in a significant risk of cholera.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE PLAN

The Health Cluster’s objectives are implemented together with the commonly agreed humanitarian strategic objectives to: Save lives and alleviate suffering through safe, equitable, inclusive, gender-responsive and principled intersectoral assistance to the most vulnerable groups, including internally displaced persons, communities and other people in need. The objectives of the health cluster are;

1) Providing accessible essential health care services to target groups (men, women, girls and boys), focusing on the main causes of morbidity and sexual and reproductive health.

2) Providing quality care to people (men and women) with physical injuries, disabilities and mental health needs

3) Prepare for, detect and respond to outbreaks of epidemic diseases.

Objectives and priorities: Healthcare will strive for maximum integration to influence indicators across sectors, thereby reducing mortality and morbidity and improving the living standards of the population. In 2024, the health cluster will intervene in 17 districts in Cabo Delgado, 15 districts in Nampula and 4 districts in Niassa, the most affected by conflict, with the aim of providing free and effective preventive and curative emergency health services to people affected by the crisis. The integrated basic health care package will be used, with a focus on high-impact interventions such as vaccination and timely treatment of the most common ones. To facilitate the work of frontline partners, the cluster will strengthen an emergency healthcare pipeline, where kits will be available and easily accessible. The activities will be carried out in coordination with the WASH and Nutrition Cluster and all relevant sectors.

Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS): Protecting people affected by the crisis from sexual exploitation and abuse is a top priority for authorities and humanitarian partners in Northern Mozambique. In collaboration with the inter-cluster MHPSS TWG, the response teams addressed this important pillar in delivering health services to affected communities within the operating districts.

Accountability to the Affected Population (AAP): Listening to, responding to, and engaging and meaningfully engaging displaced people and affected communities remains a core principle of Mozambique’s 2024 humanitarian response, in which the health cluster will work closely with other agencies to ensure affected people have the information have what they need. and that diverse affected community groups meaningfully participate in emergency response decisions. In December 2020, Accountability to Affected Population/Community Engagement (CE/AAP) working groups were established at national (Maputo) and subnational (Cabo Delgado) levels. These teams are deployed by the healthcare cluster partners during the assessment and response missions.

Cost of response: The health cluster needs $16,360,339 to reach 467,438 people who need a year’s worth of life-saving and essential health care services through partner projects. About 30 percent of the budget will be spent on the purchase, shipping and distribution of emergency health packages. About 40 percent of the money will be used to support healthcare workers and ensure services are available at different delivery points. Another 30 percent will pay for support services such as logistics and overhead costs.