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Violence in Mozambique Overshadowed by Growing Ukrainian Crisis, Catholic Charity Says

An IDP camp in Mozambique. Credit: ACN

Mozambique is one of the embattled countries that risk receiving less visibility as the world focuses its attention on the growing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Catholic Pontifical and charity foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Canada, has said.

“In the past month, the war in Ukraine has been in the media spotlight, an essential attention, but one that risks overshadowing the distress elsewhere in the world,” ACN Canada reported on Tuesday, April 5.

In the report, ACN Canada Director, Marie-Claude Lalonde, says that while the ongoing humanitarian situation in Ukraine has shocked everyone, the world should not turn its back on other countries experiencing unrest.

“The worldwide shock caused by the Russian army’s invasion of Ukrainian territory has affected us all deeply… Yet, all over the world, attacks and conflicts equally degrading to human dignity are still taking place. One such tragic example is Mozambique,” Ms. Lalonde says. 

ACN Canada estimates that since 2017, jihadist attacks have hit Mozambique, especially in the country’s Northern region of Cabo Delgado, more than 900 times.

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“Death, insecurity and fear are now very real for more than 800,000 people,” the Pontifical charity foundation reports.

Narrating a case of Mozambique’s dire situation, Ms. Lalonde says, “One of the people being supported by the local church told Aid to the Church in Need Canada how his son died, beheaded by jihadists just a few blocks from his home. This father is devastated and without the presence of the Church at his side, he might have taken his own life.”

ACN Canada says that the violence in Mozambique has been widely linked to the struggle for the country’s rich resources.

“These attacks began for no apparent reason, but many now believe they are linked to a struggle for territory, since this region is rich in natural resources. Not to mention the natural disasters,” the charity foundation says.

It adds, in reference to the Southern African country, “For the past three years, the region has been affected by unprecedented tropical storms. The passage of Hurricane Ana on January 24 was accompanied by wind gusts of up to 120 km/hour and torrential rains causing severe flooding.”

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Ms. Lalonde says that the needs in Mozambique, which she describes as one of the poorest countries on the African continent, are immense.

“For the past three years, many farmers have been unable to cultivate their land, which has been ripped out by terrorist groups or flooded by successive storms,” the Director of ACN Canada says.

For more than two years now, Aid to the Church in Need has been supporting hundreds of displaced families with food, hygiene products, health care and seeds.

The international charity also makes spiritual and psychosocial assistance possible for those who are traumatized and in need.

“We must continue to support them, because without us, they literally have nothing left,” the Catholic foundation reports, in reference to the victims of the Mozambican crisis.

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Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.