Mozambique is facing a rapidly escalating flood emergency following exceptionally heavy rainfall between December 2025 and mid‑January 2026. The rains, combined with the start of the rainy and cyclone season across southern, central and northern provinces, have severely affected hundreds of thousands of people.
The Government has declared a nationwide Red Alert and formally requested UN support. Flooding has forced large numbers of families from their homes, with many seeking shelter in temporary accommodation centres that are struggling to meet growing needs. As the situation continues to evolve, more people are being displaced each day, with communities across several provinces affected.
The floods have caused extensive destruction to homes, schools, health facilities, and essential infrastructure. Entire neighbourhoods have been inundated, roads washed away, and many rural areas remain difficult to access. These conditions have left families without basic services and exposed children to heightened health risks, including unsafe water, disease outbreaks, malnutrition, and protection concerns.
Children are at the greatest risk. They account for over half of those affected - a number expected to rise toward 400,000 - and face heightened danger due to disrupted access to safe water, healthcare, nutrition and education. These conditions leave children increasingly vulnerable to waterborne diseases, malnutrition and protection concerns.
Why are floods particularly dangerous for children in Mozambique?
Mozambique is a country of children and young people. More than 17 million children are under 18, and over 21 million people are under 24, in a country with an average age of just 17. When floods strike, they disproportionately affect children and adolescents, both immediately and over the long term.
Even before this emergency, millions of children required humanitarian assistance. High levels of poverty, malnutrition, disease and limited access to essential services mean that shocks like flooding can rapidly become life‑threatening for children.
How UNICEF is responding
UNICEF, alongside the Ministry of Health and other partners, is assessing the direct needs of children and families and evaluating the impact of the floods to identify urgent support requirements.
At the same time, UNICEF is delivering immediate life‑saving assistance. This includes establishing temporary health facilities and deploying integrated mobile brigades in accommodation and transit centres to sustain maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition services. These services include child wasting screening and treatment; malaria, diarrhoeal and respiratory infection management; vitamin A supplementation; deworming; and antenatal, neonatal and HIV services.
Urgent and flexible funding is needed to scale up UNICEF’s response as flooding continues, access becomes more challenging and humanitarian needs grow throughout the rainy and cyclone season.
