Cyclone Idai

40 million people in Southern Africa are at risk of increased hunger and poverty due to the double threat of the coronavirus and consecutive climatic shocks, warned Oxfam today. 

12 months after Cyclone Idai battered Southern Africa, more than 8.7 million people remain in desperate need of food and water. We stand in solidarity with communities still recovering, and we celebrate the women who, despite losing everything, still work tirelessly to support each other and rebuild their lives.

Tens of thousands of people across Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique are still suffering 12 months after Cyclone Idai battered Southern Africa, warned Oxfam today. Cyclone Idai, one of the worst cyclones to hit Africa, made landfall on 14th March 2019.

Cyclone Idai struck Zimbabwe in March 2019, affecting 270,000 people. This policy brief provides an analysis of the impacts and review of the disaster response to draw lessons and policy implications for post-disaster institutional development.

As world leaders gather in New York this week for the Climate Action Summit, Oxfam partner Jose Mucote decided to come all the way from Mozambique to share his experiences as a first responder to the devastating Cyclone Idai earlier this year, a cyclone that is a true witness of a climate crisis we can no longer ignore.

Hunger is escalating as the United Nation’s humanitarian response in Mozambique is less than half funded.

Oxfam, together with Save the Children and CARE are calling for further emergency food assistance along with longer term livelihoods support to avert yet another crisis. 

In the worst-affected areas of Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi, we’ve met survivors like Dorothy, Joshua and Madelema who have lost everything, their lives devastated by Cyclone Idai. They are in urgent need of life-saving humanitarian assistance. You can make a difference.

Oxfam and international and local partners are planning to help people in Mozambique hit by a second devastating cyclone in less than six weeks.

Areas hit by Cyclone Idai are “like a war zone” says Oxfam. The destruction and suffering are still not fully mapped. Despite initial appeals, international aid effort are still grossly underfunded, and aid agencies are already stretched and running out of resources.