"We launch an appeal to the political and institutional world and to the Italian public opinion: let's not abandon Mozambique in the dramatic moment it is living. Too little has been said about it in our country, there has been an absence. We need instead an awareness of the seriousness of the situation to renew the bonds of friendship between Italy and Mozambique, which date back to the support in the struggle for independence and the process that led to the signing of peace, which took place in Rome thanks to the mediation of Sant'Egidio, on October 4, 1992". So said Don Angelo Romano, from the International Relations Office of the Community, speaking at a press conference (VIDEO).
Since 2017, in fact, northern Mozambique has been the victim of terrorist attacks that have caused thousands of deaths, 800,000 internally displaced persons, and put the country's stability at risk. Sant'Egidio has been present in Mozambique since the 1980s, and is now widespread in all the provincial capitals of the country and in 140 towns and villages, including the region of Cabo Delgado, the epicenter of jihadist attacks. From there, members of the Community, along with the rest of the population, have had to abandon their homes and take refuge in neighboring provinces, as happened in Mocimboa, da Praia, Mbau, Muatide, Muidumbe, Lyautua. In Mbau (province of Mocimboa da Praia) during the attacks on the village, 8 members of Sant'Egidio were killed between September and October 2019; another young man from the Community was killed in June 2020 in the attack in Mocimboa da Praia.
"In these months Sant'Egidio has tried to respond to the growing demand of internally displaced persons and has distributed more than 100 tons of food, but also masks, soap, clothes, blankets - recalled Don Angelo Romano - to 25 thousand people located in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Niassa, Zambesia, Sofala. Over a thousand people have been assisted to reunite with members of their families in safer areas of the country, others to relocate in quieter areas. Sant'Egidio has given them a house and land to cultivate, with seeds and agricultural tools, to help them rebuild their lives independently".
In the coming months, the Community will increase the distribution of food, health and school kits, supply displaced people with work tools and materials for the construction of houses, but also plans to build schools in some of the largest camps and create scholarships to enable high school students who had to interrupt their studies. To this end, he is launching a fundraiser at dona.santegidio.org.
How to donate to help the people of Mozambique, victims of terrorism
Postal current account transfer
IBAN: IT67D0760103200000000807040
BIC/SWIFT Code: BPPIITRRXXX Beneficiary: Comunità di S.Egidio-ACAP Onlus Piazza S.Egidio 3/a, 00153 Roma
Causal: EMERGENCY MOZAMBIQUE
Online donation
Visit dona.santegidio.org and select the project "Mozambique Emergency" or specify the reason for the donation "Mozambique Emergency".
