The 2000-2001 operation improved in some areas due to the following reasons:

An accurate weather forecast. The weather forecasting, allowed formulating a contingency plan based on potential 2001 flooding between January and April.

The preparedness capacity. The National Contingency Plan along with the UN Contingency Plan, allowed pre-positioning or warehousing part of the needed materials, goods, and equipment prior to the floods.

Coordination strategy in place. The coordination capacity had improved: meetings on a weekly basis, latest information available, up-to-date mapping, website, forecasts, river level measurement, and reports regarding logistics, health, water, shelter, communications, food security, and overall coordination in the Beira operational hub, drove to reactivate and to create management mechanisms.

A common appealing position. It was possible again this year to successfully launch a common UN appeal which mobilised more than the total amount of $30 million requested by Government.

There is a need of further improvement to have a much better response in the future. During an emergency, the main priority is to reduce mortality among the affected population, first of all through rescue of the people in danger and secondly ensuring survival with relief assistance. To attain the objectives, it is essential to respond to the following main challenges:

Preparedness: the weather forecast mechanisms alerted about 2001 floods and provided accurate information to prepare an adequate response.

The contingency plan must be reviewed, updated and modified every year to ensure that we are responding in the most effective possible way. In order to dispose of an adequate coordination, both contingency plans, Government and UN should be prepared simultaneously in a complementary and integrated way. A detailed procedures manual is a crucial tool that has yet to be prepared.

Improvement in all partners working together has to be done, to ensure the coordination process makes the best use of combined resources, talents and assets and the embracement of a new culture of on-going planning and preparation.

Disaster management capacity. The Mozambican Government and the International Community improved substantially their management capacity during the last year. Meanwhile, one of the main constraints was the lack of human resources both in quality and quantity.

Assessments of disasters need to be much more immediate and must be conducted jointly with the Government and partners. They must begin sooner, use common assessment instruments, and feed into a common database which all partners contribute to and utilize. Otherwise, we again end up with differing statistics, conflicting assessments, and competitive responses. Unlike in 2000, the assessment and implementation in such a widespread affected area was more difficult, costly and time-consuming. The need was even greater for full cooperation and collaboration to serve populations and save lives.

An adequate response will not be possible without sufficient funds. It is highly possible that, in a near future, floods will affect again Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world.

Training and specialization of national and international officers, institutional capacitating with adequate resources and technology, rehabilitation and construction of roads and bridges, construction of water defence mechanisms (dikes and platforms) and access in due time to transportation assets for rescue and relief (boats, hovercrafts, helicopters and plains), are not feasible without the will and participation of the international solidarity of the powerful countries. The paradox is that solidarity, is not always related to the needs of the affected population, but for strategic, media related, economic, political and mediocrity related reasons.

Enrique MuСЃoz Leira
UN OCHA Emergency Coordination Advisor
Maputo, Mozambique
14 September 2001