Mozambique: Nyusi Wants Humanism and Integrity in Assisting Vulnerable People

10 AUGUST 2022

Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)

Maputo — Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has called for humanism and integrity in providing assistance to the most vulnerable people in society.

The President made this appeal virtually on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the First Consultative Council of the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management (INGD), held in Matibane in the northern province of Nampula.

"In this noble mission of yours, no one should be left behind", he said. "You must abandon behavior that may exclude certain layers, particularly the most vulnerable. Mozambicans recognize your sacrifice, you are the hope and pride of the Mozambicans".

The president also called for professionalism and collaboration between the INGD and other institutions, in other to face robustly the problems caused by natural disasters. "You have to work with professionalism, humanism, honesty and integrity and the highest sense of ethics", Nyusi declared.

According to the president, the transformation of the INGC (National Institute for Disaster Management) into the INGD was the right choice and a conscious exercise that recognized the need to raise responsibility to allow greater agility, dynamics and efficiency in decision-making in disaster management.

"Hence, the INGD represents a paradigm shift by bringing the operations of the disaster management entity closer to the government structure", Nyusi said, recalling how the last three rainy seasons were catastrophic for Mozambique.

"The disasters that occurred in the last three rainy seasons resulted in major loss of human lives, destruction of infrastructure, prolonged interruption of essential services, economic paralysis, food insecurity, and the vulnerability of entire communities", he said.

Nyusi said "cyclones Idai and Kenneth in 2019, which were followed by Eloise, Chalane and Guambe, in 2021 and Ana, Domaco, Gombe and Jasmine this year, are examples of extreme phenomena that caused profound disruption of the normal functioning of society and economy. Added to these extreme events are the persistent droughts in some areas of the south and center of the country, the Covid-19 pandemic, and terrorism in Cabo Delgado province.

The occurrence of extreme events in the last five years, the President said, have put to the test the country's capacity to respond to simultaneous occurrences of disasters.

"We are aware that institutional challenges remain. We need to further improve the quality of preparation, planning and response to the negative impacts caused by different types of disasters. Therefore, I take this opportunity to encourage the INGD to increase efforts in preparing and empowering communities so that they can take correct attitudes towards disaster risks", he said.