The province of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, has once again become the center of one of southern Africa’s worst humanitarian crises. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 22,000 people were forced to leave their homes in a single week at the end of September 2025 due to a new wave of armed violence.
This surge marks a turning point in the conflict, which has now lasted eight years and has already displaced over 1.3 million people. The clashes, which began in 2017, involve local armed groups known as al-Shabaab, not affiliated with the Somali militia of the same name, and government forces supported by regional contingents.
For the first time since the beginning of the conflict, all 17 districts of the province have been directly affected. Fighting has spread to coastal areas and inland villages, where entire communities are destroyed within hours. Many civilians, already traumatized by years of war, now find themselves without shelter, food, or access to essential services. Some villages that previously hosted displaced people are now completely emptied, with their own residents forced to flee for survival.
The collapse of the healthcare system has further worsened the crisis. According to the joint report by the World Health Organization and UNHCR, about 60% of medical facilities in the hardest-hit districts are non-functional due to looting, insecurity, and staff displacement.
In Mocímboa da Praia, the only operational hospital is running with less than 10% of its staff, mostly volunteers trying to keep the emergency room and maternity ward open. The arrival of the rainy season now risks triggering outbreaks of cholera and malaria, while stocks of medicines are nearly depleted.
The economic and humanitarian situation is further aggravated by a severe funding shortfall: the 2025 health response plan is funded at only 11%, and UNHCR has received just 66 million USD of the 352 million requested for its operations in the country.
Humanitarian workers warn that response capacity is “stretched to the limit” and that many organizations risk suspending interventions due to lack of resources.
The conflict in Cabo Delgado, originally linked to socio-economic exclusion and the scramble for natural gas in the region, has evolved into a multidimensional crisis where violence, poverty, and climate change feed into each other.
As Xavier Créach, head of UNHCR in Mozambique, stated: “Families are reaching their limit. Many of those who previously hosted displaced people are now fleeing themselves.”
To read more, please visit:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/10/1166049
