In the 11 months since Cyclone Idai barrelled into central Mozambique, devastating lives and destroying critical communications infrastructure, the ETC together with the Mozambique Regulatory Authority (ARECOM) and the National Forum of Community Radios (FORCOM) have convened, workshopped and brainstormed to ensure the southern African country is prepared to respond better in terms of people, processes and technology in the future.

It's been a long journey. The ETC recently concluded the preparedness-led consultation in Maputo, toward developing the Emergency Telecommunications Preparedness Action Plan as requested by the national government. It's a significant first step, but concrete implementation will need to be swift if the response to future emergencies is to be immediate and effective - the twin disasters of Idai and Cyclone Kenneth in March and April, exposed glaring vulnerabilities in the telecoms sector.

Equally crucial is the need to reduce the impact of any future disaster on communities and their access to lifesaving information, something that very literally saved lives last Spring.