EU Allocates further €550,000 in Humanitarian Aid as Mozambique Reels from Twin Disasters
The European Union has allocated €550,000 in aid to support the ongoing humanitarian response in Mozambique, where the devastating effects of severe flooding continue to affect the country, compounded by the impact of tropical Cyclone Gezani. The funding is set to provide life-saving assistance to thousands of people yet in urgent need.
Since late December 2025, persistent and intense rainfall, combined with rising river levels and dam overflows, has triggered severe flooding across all 11 provinces. The disaster has affected over 723,000 people, displaced about 400,000, and caused loss of life, injuries and widespread destruction of infrastructure. The scale of the crisis prompted the Government of Mozambique to declare a nationwide Red Alert on 16 January 2026, after national response capacity was exceeded.
As the country grappled with these devastating floods, Cyclone Gezani struck Mozambique’s southern coastal province of Inhambane, in February, killing at least four people, according to officials. The storm battered the region in February with winds of up to 215 km/h, leaving a trail of destruction and affecting thousands, many of whom were already vulnerable due to the earlier flooding.
@ECHO peter Biro
The latest EU funding will bolster the efforts of the Mozambique Red Cross Society in delivering much-needed relief, including emergency shelter, essential supplies, clean water, healthcare, hygiene support, and community-based disaster risk reduction initiatives. The amount is part of the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
The disasters have significantly disrupted livelihoods, with extensive agricultural losses and livestock deaths increasing the risk of food insecurity for hundreds of thousands of households. At the same time, overcrowded shelters and poor sanitation conditions continue raising concerns about potential outbreaks of diseases such as cholera and malaria.
Background
The European Union together with its Member States is the world's leading donor of humanitarian aid. Relief assistance is an expression of European solidarity towards people in need around the world. It aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and human-made crises. Through its European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department, the European Union helps millions of victims of conflicts and disasters every year. Headquartered in Brussels and with a global network of field offices, the EU assists to the most vulnerable people, based on humanitarian needs.
The European Union is signatory to a larger €12 million humanitarian delegation agreement with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to support the Federation's Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF). Funds from the DREF are mainly allocated to “small-scale” disasters – those that do not give rise to a formal international appeal.
The Disaster Response Emergency Fund was established in 1979 and is supported by contributions from donors. Each time a National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society needs immediate financial support to respond to a disaster, it can request funds from the DREF. For small-scale disasters, the IFRC allocates grants from the Fund, which can then be replenished by the donors. The delegation agreement between the IFRC and ECHO enables the latter to replenish the DREF for agreed operations (that fit within its humanitarian mandate) up to a total of 12 million.
For further information, please contact:
Peter Biro, Regional Information Officer for the Great Lakes, East & Southern Africa, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO): peter.biro@echofield.eu
