Around four million people in Mozambique were affected by natural disasters during the rainy and cyclonic season of 2023-2024.

The information was revealed this Thursday (22) in Maputo by the national director of Climate Change at the Ministry of Land and Environment, Jadwiga Massinga, at the opening of the Local Children and Youth Conference on Climate Change in Mozambique.

"In the 2023-2024 rainy and cyclonic season, according to the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGD), around four million people were affected, which is a lot considering the 33 million Mozambican population," said Jadwiga Massinga.

For the government official, young people and children, who represent 80% of the Mozambican population, are among the most vulnerable social groups when natural disasters occur. "They are vulnerable to climatic events due to various factors. For example, there is a higher risk of death due to diseases that are aggravated by climate change, including malaria, cholera and malnutrition," the source explained.

In the meantime, awareness-raising actions and the introduction of content on climate change in the National Education System (SNE) are some proposals for reducing the vulnerability of young people and children to climate change.

"Young people need to be made aware, and above all, advocacy needs to be done in order to introduce topics such as environmental education into school books from elementary school so that children can grow up with basic notions about this issue," said Flávia Nicole, a representative of the Youth Platform for Climate Action - YCAC, warning, however, that Mozambique is one of the southern African countries most affected by climate change.

In addition, Flávia Nicole defends the need for more actions to disseminate information about climate change, because "young people and children don't have enough information about how this issue affects our lives". "We want to spread the word so that everyone is informed about climate change," she said.

Nevertheless, the Mozambican Executive considers the country to be a world leader, especially in the voluntary mobilization of young people to prevent and combat climate change, with more than three million people currently involved voluntarily in different activities aimed at combating the effects of climate change.

According to Jadwiga Massinga, Mozambique currently has 137 local climate change adaptation plans, designed to promote the construction of infrastructure such as schools, water supplies and resilient health centers.

In the last eight years, the country has been severely affected by cyclones, most notably Idai, Kenneth, Guambe and Freddy.

(Photo DR)