Promoted by the UCLG International Fund, a first mission has been organized to assess needs of local authorities affected by a cyclone and help for reconstruction in the city of Dondo (Mozambique) from the 11th to 18th of January.

The UCLG working group on prevention and management concluded that there are three priorities and main actions to support city of Dondo:

Priority 1: Aid for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of houses in Dondo (linked to Dondo Master Plan priority 3): Build Back Resilient. During the visit to the town of Dondo, several sites were visited, including a displaced persons camp with 357 families. This site was donated by the city to all families who each have a plot of land to build their house. A good number of families continue to live in tents; others have started building non-resilient precarious houses with local materials, mainly dry earth and shrubs. These shelters will not be able to stand the passage of a new cyclone or possibly torrential rain. We are exploring the conditions to finance the construction of three resilient “pilot houses” on this site. These three proposed houses will be built mainly with local equipment and in a resilient way”. On-site construction will train families in new techniques to help them build their shelter in a resilient manner. Depending on the costs, our project could also support the purchase of the materials necessary for the construction of a number of houses in the village.

Priority 2 Active training for the municipal team and the population. We were able to observe a very weak preparation of the municipal team as well as the population on the techniques linked to the rapid evacuation plan or preparedness. It is propose to build with the municipal team of Dondo first a training of the municipal team in order to establish a rapid response protocol (which includes a risk mapping, that already exist). This work could be done in partnership with Japanese cooperation JICA. Then the ANAMM association of Mozambique’s municipalities could establish an agreement in order to plan with the municipality of Dondo a series of actions that the municipality could hold with the schools of the city around questions of risk prevention. The municipality will organize pilot exercises each year in partnership with ANAMM.

Priority 3 Technical training seminar on the prevention and management of risks and disasters in the presence of the municipalities of Mozambique, interested international local authorities as well as technical partners already engaged in the field of reconstruction (World Bank, AFD, German cooperation, Japanese cooperation, UNHABITAT…).