China’s government has disbursed $2 million (€1.9 million) to support children in central Mozambique affected by cyclone Idai, which struck the area in 2019, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has announced.
“The project was designed with the aim of increasing access to life-saving malaria prevention materials and medicines, including the use of long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets to reduce morbidity and mortality, especially in children and pregnant women,” the agency said in a statement.
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According to UNICEF, so far the money from China has been used to purchase and distribute 250,000 mosquito nets, which have benefited 441,495 people, as well as obtaining tests and medication, in unspecified quantities.
The funds made available by China resulted in at least 544,002 children having access to medical consultations, aimed at reducing infant mortality, it said.
Cyclone Idai hit central Mozambique in March 2019, claiming over 600 lives and affecting over 1.5 million people, with Sofala province severely hit. Around 90% of the city of Beira, the provincial capital, was destroyed by the cyclone.
A few months later, in April of the same year, Mozambique was hit by another cyclone, Kenneth, which killed 45 people in the north of the country.
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The 2018/2019 rainy season was one of the most severe in living memory in Mozambique, with a total of 714 people dying as a result of the bad weather, including 648 killed in the two cyclones.
Mozambique is considered to be one of the countries worst affected by climate change.
