Floodwaters, Hunger and Disease: Mozambique’s Children Face a Deadly Emergency

XAI XAI/GENEVA – Heavy flooding across Mozambique is rapidly turning unsafe water, disease outbreaks and malnutrition into a deadly threat for children, according to UNICEF.

Speaking at a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, UNICEF’s Chief of Communication in Mozambique, Guy Taylor, warned that the scale and speed of the crisis are placing children at extreme risk. Floodwaters have destroyed homes, schools, health centres and roads, while stripping families of access to clean water, healthcare, nutrition and education.

Exceptionally heavy rains in the first weeks of January have triggered what UNICEF describes as a rapidly escalating emergency across large parts of the country. The situation is further compounded by the start of Mozambique’s annual cyclone season, raising fears of a double crisis that could hit the most vulnerable communities hardest.

Preliminary government data indicates that more than 513,000 people have been affected by the floods, over half of them children. More than 50,000 people have been forced from their homes and are now sheltering in 62 temporary centres, many of which are overcrowded and lack adequate services.

In these conditions, UNICEF says children face heightened risks of waterborne diseases, interrupted education and serious protection concerns, particularly for girls and adolescents. Unsafe water and malnutrition are proving to be a lethal combination. Even before the floods, almost four in ten children in Mozambique were living with chronic malnutrition. The renewed disruption of food supplies, health services and care practices now threatens to push many children into acute and severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest forms.

Together with the Government and humanitarian partners, UNICEF is responding with urgency. In Gaza Province, the most affected area, teams are supporting government-led assessments and have begun distributing essential supplies to children and families. Efforts are also underway to restore critical services, including access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene, health care, education and child protection.

Further north in Sofala Province, UNICEF has already provided water, sanitation and hygiene supplies to the four hardest-hit districts. These interventions are enabling the treatment of contaminated water at both household and community levels and have reached at least 13,000 households.

Despite these efforts, UNICEF warns that the threat to children is growing. River basins remain above alert levels, heavy rains continue in some areas, and the cyclone season is only beginning. The number of affected children and families is expected to rise in the coming days and weeks, while damaged roads and infrastructure are making it increasingly difficult to reach those in need.

UNICEF stressed that timely support is critical to scaling up life-saving services before conditions deteriorate further. Rapid action can prevent disease, deaths and irreversible harm to thousands of children, but delays could cost lives.

Mozambique is a country defined by its youth. More than 17 million people are under the age of 18, and the average age is just 17. When floods strike, as they have repeatedly in recent years, children are the first to suffer and often the last to recover.

For Africa, Mozambique’s unfolding emergency is a stark reminder of how climate shocks intersect with poverty, malnutrition and weak infrastructure to deepen existing vulnerabilities. Yet it also highlights the urgency of investing in resilient systems that protect children before disasters strike. As one of Africa’s youngest nations, Mozambique’s future depends on whether its children can survive this crisis, return to school and rebuild their lives with dignity and hope.

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