Geneva, 4 April 2019–Last week, iMMAP deployed two Information Management Officers to Beira, Mozambique to support the Health and Food Security Clusters in the response of Tropical Cyclone Idai. Since the disaster struck, iMMAP has been gearing up to respond to a significant number of requests for Information Management Officers from United Nations partners in Mozambique. 

Cyclone Idai, which struck over the northern Mozambique channel, made landfall on 14 March at the port of Beira and left 500 000 residents without power and means of communication. As of April 2, the Government of Mozambique estimates 598 fatalities, with 1.85 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in the provinces of Inhambane, Manica, Sofala, Tete, and Zambezia.

Health

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the displacement of large numbers of people and the flooding triggered by Cyclone Idai significantly increases the risk of malaria, typhoid, and cholera. As of 2 April, over 1,400 cases of cholera have been reported by the Ministry of Health, with other 128,000 people at high-risk cholera living in temporary shelters with unsafe water supply and poor sanitation. 


Food Security

Cyclone and flooding damage to livelihoods, crops, grain stores, farming, and market infrastructure makes food security a major concern for the affected areas of Mozambique. The cyclone struck just before the annual harvest damaging more than 715,000 hectares of crops. This is compounded by an extensive loss of livestock and damage to fishing assets 
 
Response

In this situation, the work of humanitarian organizations in health and food security along with water, sanitation and hygiene is crucial to provide health services to the affected communities, to contain the spread of cholera and other diseases, and to ensure steps are taken to provide for food security.  
 
iMMAP´s services of Information management in emergencies will support the provision of better data for better operational decisions, which will facilitate a better response and will yield better outcomes for those affected by Cyclone Idai.

Supported by USAID OFDA, iMMAP Stand-By Partner Programme team is working to recruit additional experts, mainly Portuguese and Spanish-speakers. It is expected that more iMMAP experts will be deployed in the coming weeks to provide information management support and enable United Nations partners to make informed decisions that provide high-quality, targeted assistance to everyone affected by one of the worst weather-related crises to affect the African continent.