The German government has announced the disbursement of 27.5 million euros for peace and security projects in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, which is plagued by terrorism.

The projects include assistance for people displaced by armed attacks, particularly for the most vulnerable groups such as women, adolescents and children. In northern Mozambique, there are more than 900,000 displaced people, which makes access to basic services difficult

"That's why we're focusing particularly on these groups, who play a central role in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development's new African strategy, as agents of change," says Germany's ambassador to Mozambique, Lothar Freischlader, quoted by Lusa.

The diplomat said that the projects would be implemented by UNICEF and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"We have been cooperating with these humanitarian organizations for several years for the development of the country," says Freischlader, "which is why we are confident that we could not have chosen better implementing partners for this noble cause that has such an impact on the lives of the most vulnerable."

The chairman of the board of ADIN, the Agency for the Integrated Development of the North, Armindo Ngunga, recalled that the military situation in Cabo Delgado is improving, "and consequently people are already returning to their areas of origin."

Even so, the challenges remain. "If we had challenges when they were displaced people, now we have challenges as returnees," says Ngunga.

More than 118,000 people have already returned to the district of Mocimboa da Praia alone, according to the local authorities. But there are many areas where conditions are still not good, adds Ngunga.

The returnees find a lot of basic infrastructure and homes destroyed: "In this new beginning, basic services such as health, education, water, energy and sanitation are fundamental for people to be able to return normally to the life we have been leading."

Last November, the German government pledged to support Mozambique with 199 million euros for the country's social and economic development.