Samikhsya Bureau
Any oceanic fury is always an advance indication at the dangers to follow in the future. That is the way nature behaves. Be it Tunamis, cyclones or super cyclones all these calamities are the product of shortsightedness human suffers from by ignoring the values nature offers. Only after the devastation that we shed our idle instincts but that does not suffice for any restoration. There goes true the general belief that if we play with nature but the nature always restores itself, but with vengeance.
As the full extent of destruction caused by Cyclone Idai across southern Africa continues to be assessed, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said it was in “a race against time” to protect women who bore the brunt of the storm as they tried to save their households and livelihoods.
UNFPA Representative in Mozambique, Andrea Wojnar, said their main challenge was “to provide women and adolescent girls, especially those who are pregnant and lactating, with lifesaving sexual and reproductive health services”.
Cyclone Idai affected more than 75,000 pregnant women, with 45,000 births expected over the next six months, she said, 7,000 of which are at risk of “life-threatening complications” due to the flooding and destruction.
Touring several facilities and communities in Dondo District, in hard-hit Sofala Province, Ms Wojnar was “devastated” to see young girls giving birth in maternity wards with enormous holes in the roof, and nurses living with their families in muddy tents next to the cyclone-battered clinics.
“With at least 35 health facilities fully or partially destroyed, and health workers themselves left homeless or stricken”, said the UNFPA Representative, “we are working around the clock with the Government and other partners to restore basic maternal and child healthcare”.
As part of its revised humanitarian response plan, UNFPA is appealing for more than $9 million to provide reproductive health supplies and services to Mozambique – with prevention and response to gender-based violence a main priority.
Women and girls are at greater risk of exploitation and sexual violence when they are dislocated from their communities, says UNFPA. Noting that “many do not have safe places to sleep or go to the latrine”, Wojnar explained that when they lack food and basic necessities, “women and girls can fall prey to predators and opportunists”.
The agency is working to establish safe spaces for women and girls, “where they can go for information, psychosocial support, and referrals to medical and legal services, especially if they have been assaulted or victimised,” she stated.
“We are also distributing ‘dignity kits’ that contain sanitary pads, underwear, African cloth for clothing, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, and a security whistle”, she said. “All are very basic items, but ones that uphold women’s dignity through hygiene and safety.”
(with UNI inputs)
