The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) needs $58 million for activities in Mozambique, whose priority is humanitarian assistance in Cabo Delgadoindicates a document consulted this Thursday by Lusa.

In total, according to the humanitarian appeal revised in June, UNICEF needed a total of $96.5 million for its activities in Mozambique, which includes support for displaced people and Cabo Delgado and other operations, according to the entity's latest report.

UNICEF has managed to raise a total of $38 million from international partners, including Canada, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, but a budget deficit of 50 million euros persists.

"The situation in Cabo Delgado remains fluid and unclear. However, Mozambique's armed forces, in coordination with Rwandan and Southern African Development Community (SADC) troops, continue to gain control of areas previously occupied by insurgents," the report said.

According to data from the entity, it is estimated that about 33,000 children among the displaced are suffering from malnutrition, out of a universe of 300,000 of school age who were forced to flee their areas of origin and who now depend on "emergency schooling.

"UNICEF is supporting the provincial government in implementing mobile clinics as a strategy to provide health services to new resettlement sites in Cabo Delgado," the document adds.

The armed conflict between military forces and insurgents in Cabo Delgado has already caused more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to Mozambican authorities.

Since July, an offensive by government troops with Rwandan support, later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), allowed for an increase in security, recovering several areas where rebels were present, including the town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been occupied since August 2020.

Lusa Agency