Donor conference set for June

A donor conference to discuss flood reconstruction is to be held in Mozambique in early June, OCHA said in its latest situation report on Wednesday. “The purposes of the conference is to review the rehabilitation/reconstruction programmes in 2000 and the impacts of the floods in 2001, and to raise funds to respond the unmet needs for the victims of flooding in 2001,” OCHA said. It added that as of 12 May OCHA had recorded US $13.6 million in international donor assistance. According to the humanitarian agency, 549,326 people were affected by the floods earlier this year. OCHA said there was a lack of funds for the rehabilitation of the road between Dondo and Caia in the southern Sofala province. This is the main road link for humanitarian relief operation in the Zambezi valley. It said that an estimated US $200,000 was still needed to meet the costs of the repair work. Meanwhile, in their situation report, The UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (UNRCO) in Maputo said that according to the government’s emergency response department, the INGC, general free food distribution would be stopped at the end of May. After then, households in need of food aid would be targeted through food-for-work-recovery schemes. The report said that WFP had distributed 6,329 mt of food in four provinces in March and April.