United Nations Calls For Mozambique To Invest In Technology In The Face Of Disasters

The United Nations today promised to advocate with the Mozambican government for the inclusion of funding for geospatial technologies through the State Budget, as they are important for reducing the impacts of natural disasters.

We can advocate for United Nations member states to invest in these geospatial technologies (...), we must continue to raise this issue at the political level so that the [Mozambican] government commits to funding through the State Budget", said the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Mozambique, Catherine Sozi.

The official was speaking today in Maputo, during the Regional Forum on Strengthening Geospatial Information Management Mechanisms and Accelerating the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Catherine Sozi argued that geospatial technologies are important and are a key factor in minimizing the impacts of natural disasters that have affected Mozambique, with greater incidence in recent years.

"This geospatial technology helps us to better understand the impact on people and to prevent this impact (...). In Africa, Mozambique is better at using these technologies, but we want it to do more and do it more efficiently", added the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Mozambique.

Mozambique is in the middle of the rainy season, which runs from October to April, a period in which, in addition to Chido, which hit the country on December 14, it also recorded cyclones Dikeledi, on January 13, and Jude, on March 10, totaling around 150 deaths.

Cyclone Jude, the most recent to affect the country, entered Mozambique through the district of Mossuril, in the province of Nampula, causing at least 16 deaths, and also affecting Tete, Manica and Zambézia, in the center, and Niassa and Cabo Delgado, in the north.

The latest update from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD) indicated that at least 384,877 people had been affected.

Mozambique is considered one of the countries most severely affected by global climate change, facing cyclical floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, but also prolonged periods of severe drought.