Westport, Conn. (January 17, 2008) — Save the Children is providing lifesaving supplies to families affected by severe flooding in Mozambique.

Save the Children is beginning distribution of household kits — comprised of blankets, cooking and eating utensils, water purifiers, soap, buckets and plastic sheeting — to 3,500 families. The agency has distributed additional plastic sheeting to 155 families in Mopeia.

Ongoing and torrential rains are pushing the country's major rivers out of their banks, threatening the lives and livelihoods of thousands of families. An estimated 59,000 people have been displaced by floodwaters in the Zambezi River basin, according to government authorities. Other major rivers in central Mozambique are still above alert stage.

Save the Children's assessment teams working in the Zambezi Valley, where the agency has long-term programs, report that shelter, clean drinking water, food and sanitation are immediate priorities.

"The situation in Mozambique is expected to deteriorate, which will be particularly dangerous for children," said Caroline Loftus, who heads Save the Children's international response to emergencies. "Their basic needs are of critical concern over the coming days, but their long-term well-being must also be addressed as food runs out, health risks increase and the environment for children becomes more risky." 

Prolonged flooding is predicted, prompting fears that this year's floods will be bigger than those of 2007, which affected more than a quarter of a million people.

With the school year beginning in two weeks, Save the Children is assessing the need for temporary schools so that children do not miss out on an education. The agency has already established a tent school in the Mopeia resettlement center.

Save the Children has programs in three of the four provinces expected to see the worst of the Zambezi flooding. The agency has been working in Mozambique since 1988.

You can help Save the Children respond to this emergency as well as other future emergencies that put at great risk the survival, protection, and well-being of significant numbers of children. By contributing to the Children's Emergency Fund, you enable us to respond immediately to children and families who urgently need our help when disasters strike.

Donate to the Children's Emergency Fund