‘Prioritise education, girls’ plight in cyclone-hit areas’

Plan International has called on government to prioritise initiatives that ensure children, particularly young girls, have access to quality education in line with international standards and to provide services that prevent girls from being sexually exploited in Cyclone Idai-affected areas.

The tropical cyclone, which hit parts of Manicaland and Masvingo provinces in March this year, was the costliest natural disaster in the region, causing damage estimated at over US$2 billion and killing more than 1 000 people in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, the cyclone killed 344 people with at least 257 people still missing. It caused extensive damage in Chimanimani and Chipinge and affected 270 000 people, with 15 000 having been displaced.