Response Countries:  Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Reporting Period:  1st  to 31st March, 2025
Organisational Lead:  Machinda Marongwe

In the last 3 months, Mozambique has been hit by 3 Cyclones, namely Cyclone Chido, Dikeledi and Jude which made landfalls 15 December 2024, 14 January 2025 and 10 March 2025 respectively. Collectively, these cyclones have affected 1,129,069 (255,353HH),  resulted in 147 deaths and destroyed partial or totally 274,411houses. 

The Cyclones have left behind a trail of destruction to people’s homes, destroyed public infrastructure and agriculture and livelihoods and disrupted essential services creating urgent need for shelter, food, water, healthcare, and education. Immediate and flexible funding is crucial to scale up humanitarian assistance and prioritize infrastructure rehabilitation.

Funding for humanitarian response and resilience building for the affected families, especially smallholder farmer and food producers remains a challenge in the region. The ability to fully meet the needs of affected populations and supporting them rebuild their lives and resilience remains hindered by gaps and inconsistencies in funding towards the region. To effectively respond and provide meaningful humanitarian and resilience building assistance to drought and other disaster affected communities, more needs to be done. 

While the outlook for the next consumption season looks good given the late onset of rains in Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, the ever-changing climatic conditions could quickly erode the gains so far attained, exacerbating vulnerabilities and inequality. It is, therefore, critical to fully fund humanitarian response efforts to build resilience and spur social economic development and equality.

Southern African continutues to face various public health security threats. The region is particluary prone to Cholera which has become endemic in Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The undelying cause of Cholera is poor access to clean and safe water, Inadequate sanitation facilities and poor hygiene in people’s homes and public places. In February 2024, SADC held an Extra Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on the Cholera situation in the   Region.   

One of the key rsolutions of the summit was to develop and implement multisectoral cholera response plans that encompass natural disasters and climatic effects on cholera re-emergence to effectively control its spread. The Summit designated His Excellency Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia, as the regional Cholera Champion to spearhead the fight against cholera in the SADC region.  President Hichilema is also a Global Task Force for Cholera Control Champion due to the strides Zambia has made in the fight against Cholera.

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