Pemba, Mozambique, June 1, 2026 (Lusa) - The UK has invested €20 million since 2022 in providing access to water and shelter for victims of terrorism in Cabo Delgado, benefiting 150,000 people a year, the British Embassy in Mozambique announced on Monday.
In a statement, the British embassy explains that the support has provided access to food, water, shelter, basic healthcare and legal protection for the victims of attacks by insurgent groups.
The UK notes that, in August 2025, it allocated US$4 million (€3.4 million) from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, which ensured “urgent assistance” with food, shelter, protection and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services “for those most in need”.
“This humanitarian support is complemented by British investment in social protection systems, helping to reduce long-term dependence on emergency aid and strengthening more predictable, nationally led responses,” it states.
Since October 2017, Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed insurgency linked to extremist groups associated with Islamic State, a conflict that has already claimed around 6,500 lives and forced thousands to flee their homes, according to data from international organisations.
Quoted in the document, following a visit to the city of Pemba, the provincial capital of Cabo Delgado, the British High Commissioner in Maputo, Helen Lewis, called for a “comprehensive and inclusive” response to end the conflict in that region, emphasising that it must be led by the Mozambican Government.
“The United Kingdom believes that security solutions alone will not end this conflict. A comprehensive and inclusive response, led by the Government of Mozambique, is essential to address the root causes of the conflict and achieve lasting peace,” she stated.
In Pemba, the diplomat met with the secretary of state for Cabo Delgado, Fernando Bemane de Sousa, and representatives from the Northern Integrated Development Agency (ADIN), the International NGO Security Organisation (INSO) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The diplomat stated that the UK recognises that “sustainable” change for that region requires going beyond humanitarian assistance and investing in “accountable governance” and active engagement with the private sector, expressing her government’s interest in seeing the province become a place where investment “flows, businesses operate responsibly and communities benefit from growth”.
“That is why we are working directly with the private sector, including through the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights,” Helen Lewis stated during the visit, which focused on the aim of “reshaping” the nature of international engagement in northern Mozambique — moving from a “predominantly donor-based” model to one that mobilises private investment and builds long-term economic resilience.
The British High Commissioner took part in a workshop on the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights – a global initiative aimed at promoting a community-centred approach to security and helping to minimise the risk of human rights abuses in the extractive sector.
Helen Lewis met with the mayor of Pemba, Satar Abdulgani, to discuss the Green Cities and Infrastructure Programme (GCIP), which supported the city’s Urban Structure Plan, helping to “legally define systematic, resilient and orderly urban growth”, with detailed participatory planning carried out in Metula and Maringanha in that region, the statement highlights.
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