Charities fear for children separated from parents in cyclone-hit Mozambique
Government has set up a task-force with Save the Children and Unicef to register more than 400 separated children
Nairobi — Hundreds of children remain separated from their parents two months after a cyclone battered Mozambique leaving them in limbo and at risk of abuse or being trafficked into slavery, charities warned on Wednesday. Cyclone Idai struck central Mozambique on March 14, ripping apart homes, schools and health clinics, and its heavy rains causing flooding over vast tracts of farmland, destroying crops. It was followed by another cyclone, Kenneth, which hit Mozambique’s north six weeks later. The twin storms left more than 650 people dead and affected almost 2-million more. Save the Children said an assessment in Sofala province after cyclone Idai found more than 400 children were without parents two months after the disaster and the number could rise as other storm-hit provinces were assessed. “Prior to the cyclone, many children in Mozambique were already vulnerable. This emergency has only exacerbated these conditions,” said Lauren Murray, child protection adviser for Save the...
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