An EU-supported airborne lifeline amid roadblocks and climate shocks in southern Africa

In Southern Africa, the United Nations’ Humanitarian Air Service is, quite simply, a lifeline.

“UNHAS is more than an air service, it is a lifeline,” says Mamadou Mbaye, Country Director for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Madagascar.

When fast, safe and reliable humanitarian access and aid delivery is needed, the WFP-managed UNHAS can bypass access issues such as roadblocks – whether caused by conflict or climate disasters – all of which are drivers of hunger that continue to scar the region.

Annual cyclones often leave air transport as the only means of access. In places such as northern Mozambique, conflict puts areas beyond the reach of land transport or regular commercial flights.

Established in 2004, UNHAS provides global services to the humanitarian community where other viable air transport is unavailable.

Globally, last year, UNHAS flew more than 385,000 humanitarian workers from 600 organisations, along with 4,500 tonnes of relief cargo, to places often too remote or conflict-torn for its commercial counterparts.

With her livelihood and home washed away by Cyclone Freddy in 2023, Liliane and her children found themselves without shelter or food in the southeast of Madagascar. Were it not for UNHAS flights, they would be largely cut off from the outside world.

“The sounds from a helicopter gave me hope; I felt like someone knew we were suffering and came to help,” she says, recalling the first time she heard the noise. “And I was right – people jumped out of the helicopters carrying boxes of hot meals and biscuits. We did not feel alone anymore.”

In 2023, UNHAS transported 2,630 humanitarian workers and 14 metric tonnes of cargo to the south and southeast of Madagascar alone. Flights brought vital aid to people like Liliane who would’ve otherwise been out of reach.

Support from the EU has been critical to UNHAS operations in the region. In late 2023, a fully EU-funded helicopter was deployed for two months to fly 730 passengers and urgent relief items to otherwise inaccessible locations in Madagascar.

“UNHAS stands as a lifeline for both NGO workers and the communities it serves, providing a swift and efficient mode of transportation. This operational efficiency plays a pivotal role in ensuring that timely assistance reaches communities and families in need,” says Mbaye.

In Mozambique, UNHAS navigates humanitarian assistance through areas of conflict and insecurity. More than 60 humanitarian organisations are served by UNHAS.

“It’s more important than ever that staff can rapidly and safely reach those who are in urgent need of assistance,” says Eugenia Saide Luis, an employee of the Ibo Island Foundation, one of many NGOs in Mozambique operating in the conflict-affected region of Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique.

Widespread insecurity and a very limited road and rail network in northern Mozambique make reaching communities in remote areas extremely challenging. In Cabo Delgado province, UNHAS provides both passenger and cargo transport, and ensures equal access for all those responding to emergencies and protracted crises.

Since 2020, UNHAS has linked Cabo Delgado’s provincial capital, Pemba, to seven neighbouring districts and transported 29,000 humanitarians and 191,000 metric tonnes of relief cargo. It has also conducted emergency evacuations of 336 people during the violent attacks in Palma in March 2021, and 32 medical and 11 security evacuation flights.

In early 2023, in the wake of Cyclone Freddy, WFP supported the cholera response by providing free-of-charge logistics to humanitarian partners in Mozambique. This resulted in 14 UNHAS flights packed with cholera vaccines, medicines, hygiene products and other vital items reaching the remote areas affected by Cyclone Freddy.

Currently, thanks to generous support from the EU, UNHAS operates within Cabo Delgado, with Pemba as the main hub, providing scheduled flights to Ibo, Palma, Mocímboa da Praia, Meluco and Macomia, and flights on demand to Lichinga and Montepuez.

“If UNHAS were to cease operations, it would undoubtedly complicate matters for both us workers and the communities in need.” said Mbaye.