SANF 26 no 01 by Clarkson Mambo
The visionary decision by SADC leaders to establish a regional humanitarian and emergency centre for SADC is proving critical, as the region grapples with devastating floods in the 2025/26 season.
With over one million people in seven SADC member states affected by flooding, the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre (SHOC), which is mandated to coordinate regional disaster preparedness, response and early recovery, is at the centre of coordinating responses and saving lives in affected member states.
Mozambique and South Africa have been the worst affected of the seven countries, which has led the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to deploy emergency response teams (ERT) to assist the two countries. Eswatini, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe are the other affected member states.
The heavy rains, received since the onset of the rainy season in October 2025, have destroyed homes, resulting in deaths and injuries, and critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, communication lines, vast tracts of agricultural land which were under production and livestock.
Everyday activities, including education have been disrupted as children are unable to go to school as bridges and other crossing points have been washed away.
The SADC Secretariat said the deployment of the SADC ERT, is part of the SADC’s regional disaster response mechanisms, which are aimed at supporting government-led efforts in member states severely affected by the disaster.
Antonio J. Beleza, a programme officer for monitoring and early warning at the SHOC, led the mission.
The mission was in Mozambique and South Africa from 23 to 31 January 2026, providing support to national authorities in emergency response, early recovery operations, and continuous monitoring of the situation.
As part of its mandate, the SADC mission sought to appreciate the response coordination arrangements, including the roles and responsibilities of the national, provincial and municipal structures in responding to the impact of floods. It also sought to identify response gaps, capacity constraints, and priority needs.
The government of Mozambique declared a red alert on 16 January 2026, signalling urgent humanitarian needs, while South Africa declared a national disaster as heavy rains caused rivers to overflow and flash floods across different parts of the country. The most affected areas are central and southern regions, notably Gaza, Maputo, Sofala, Inhambane, and Manica provinces.
According to the Institute for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction in Mozambique, 124 people have died, over 800,000 people have been affected, and over 287,000 hectares of agricultural land have been destroyed by flooding since the onset of the season. A combination of 325,578 head of livestock, which includes cattle and goats, has died.
The government of Mozambique has delayed the opening of schools by a month, as 431 schools have been affected by the floods. The floods have destroyed at least 281 classrooms and 80 schools have been converted into accommodation centres for displaced people. A further 218 schools are inaccessible, as they are surrounded by floodwater.
SADC is in the meantime consolidating a regional humanitarian appeal based on the evolving impact assessments across the region. The rainy season is expected to run up to March 2026.
The affected countries have begun receiving humanitarian support from countries across the world and from regional and international organisations.
In line with the spirit of regional solidarity, Zimbabwe has donated an assortment of humanitarian goods, including emergency grain and essential supplies in response to a request for assistance from Mozambique. South Africa has provided air rescue services for people marooned by the floods.
The World Health Organisation says urgent humanitarian needs for affected people include shelter, safe water and access to essential health services.
SADC last launched a humanitarian appeal in 2024, when the regional organisation sought $5.5 billion to support over 61 million people who were affected by the El Niño-induced drought and floods.
Disaster preparedness has become imperative for SADC in the wake of increasing incidences of extreme weather events due to climate change.
From floods, cyclones, strong winds, mudslides and droughts, the recurring frequency of such disasters necessitated the establishment of the SHOC in 2021.
Operations of the Centre are financed by the SADC Disaster Preparedness and Response Strategy and Fund (2016-2030) whose aim is to strengthen coordination for effective disaster preparedness, response, and resilience.
Besides the SHOC, the SADC region has put in place other complementary response mechanisms to assist in matters relating to disaster management.
These initiatives include a Climate Data Processing Centre and the SADC Online Vulnerability Atlas developed by the SADC Regional Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis Programme.
The climate data centre provides timely early warning information on floods, drought and other potential disasters, while the Atlas is designed to store and share data from the 16 SADC Member States on food, nutrition and livelihood security.
SADC is also developing a regional database to record losses from disasters through a Regional Disaster Risk Information System, while plans are in motion to establish a regional risk insurance scheme.
The region has in the past five years experienced extreme weather patterns which include at least six tropical cyclones, leading to the deaths of thousands of people and the destruction of vital infrastructure. sardc.net