UN humanitarian official completes Malawi visit
The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Ursula Mueller on Wednesday completed her three-day visit to Malawi, during which she met with senior government officials, humanitarian and development partners, and visited some of the people affected by the recent Cyclone Idai.
Mueller undertook a joint visit to Malawi with Omar Rabi, Minister Plenipotentiary/Political Coordinator for Morocco, representing the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), to appreciate how UN and partners’ assistance to Malawi Government flood response has helped save lives and put the affected populations on recovery path.
She was joined by the Secretary and Commissioner for Disaster Management Affairs Mr. Wilson Moleni, UN Resident Coordinator Maria Jose Torres and the UN team during the mission.
“With the response transitioning from relief to recovery, and a good harvest expected, it is critical that the government and development partners take this opportunity to tackle the longer-term challenges which cause recurrent humanitarian crises in Malawi,” said Mueller.
“It is also critical to invest in resilience, both of the communities and the national systems.”
On Tuesday, Mueller visited some villages in Chikwawa district where she interacted with some of the flood affected people.
While in Chikwawa, Torres said she was delighted that some of the flood-affected people have already relocated from flood-prone areas to higher grounds while others are growing drought resistant crops in some areas with moisture to still harvest some food.
“I am happy that we have had great discussions with Malawi Government officials and development partners on food security, recovery and resilience building needs of the people who were affected by the cyclone,” said Torres.
“Communities that were affected by floods this year need to build back better so that they have houses and livelihoods that cannot collapse should climate change impact hit them again in future.”
On his part, Moleni commended the UN and partners for supporting the flood response, saying government now needs adequate resources to meet recovery needs of the flood-affected populations.
In early March, heavy rains and flooding linked to Cyclone Idai killed 60 people, displaced nearly 87,000 people and affected around 870,000 persons in Malawi, necessitating life-saving humanitarian interventions in 15 affected districts.
During the response, UN agencies, in collaboration with the Government of Malawi, national and international agencies, have provided immediate life-saving relief support including food, medicine, shelter, protection services and other non-food-items such as water, sanitation and hygiene supplies.
In the flood response, UN agencies are working under a coordinated approach as part of the UN reform, supporting the response in various ways that reflect their respective mandates and specialized expertise.
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