wfn.org | Angola's humanitarian situation is appalling

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

LWF report says millions of civilians are living in distressing
conditions

HUAMBO, Angola/GENEVA, 31 August 1999 (lwi) - The humanitarian situation
of one tenth of the Angolan population could soon reach appalling levels
as insecurity, distress and hunger continue to affect not only the
displaced and those affected by looting but also communities living in
safer areas of the southern African country.

According to the latest monthly report of the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF) Angola program: "The international community and the civil society
now fear the worst for the Angolan people considering distressing
conditions which thousands or millions of civilians are facing."

People face the imminent problem of a high level of malnutrition, hunger
and other nutrition related diseases unless urgent food delivery and
assistance is provided. "There are already reports of children dying due
to malnutrition and adults dying due to hunger," the July 1999 report of
the LWF-Angola program states.

On the general security situation, the report states that following
various ambushes on roads and attacks on villages and towns, general
fear and insecurity have set in even in the longtime government
controlled towns, thereby creating a new wave of displacement. The
displacement is coupled with the general lack of food and other basic
items which people have no access to. In addition, the population could
not plant for fear of landmines, being abducted, lack of seeds and tools
and other inputs.

Out of the estimated 1.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in
Angola,--according to United Nations estimates--, the LWF takes care of
45,000 in government controlled cities which stand out like islands in
UNITA controlled areas. Outside a five kilometer-radius in the three
places where the LWF is working namely Luena, Saurimo and Nzaji, new
mines have been laid and access is only possible by air. The United
Nations World Food Program (WFP) says three million people are not
accessible at all as they live in UNITA controlled regions, which
presently cover about 70 per cent of the country. Angola's estimated
population is 12 million people.

In Luena, in the east where the activities are centered in two camps
holding some 30,000 IDPs, the LWF has distributed donated kitchen sets,
family kits and agri kits and constructed latrines. In collaboration
with Medecins Sans FrontiŠres-Belgium (MSF-B), the LWF started the
construction of a health post which is currently manned by the
government health officers and has medicines jointly supplied by the
LWF, MSF-B, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the provincial
health office.

In Saurimo in the north-east where there are over 8,000 IDPs settled
since June 1998, the LWF assists the people in the construction and
improvement of houses by the provision of transport, molders for making
mud blocks as well as bricks and other types of hand tools. In Nzaji,
further in the north-east near the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
former Zaire, the LWF continues distribution of food assistance received
from the WFP to the elderly and children. The project staff continue
with the promotion of subsistence agriculture both around the IDP site
and among those who have been resettled. The cassava, sweet potatoes and
vegetables grow normally, guaranteeing a good harvest and eventually
food self sufficiency which is the ultimate LWF goal.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council demanded on 26 August 1999, that the
National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) comply
immediately and unconditionally with its obligations under the Lusaka
Protocol to demilitarize and allow the extension of State administration
to areas under its control.

In a statement by its president, Martin Andjaba (Namibia), the UN
Security Council expressed deep concern at the deteriorating political,
military and humanitarian situation in Angola as well as the plight of
the internally displaced persons (IDPs) suffering "from lack of food,
medicines, shelter and arable land among other necessities." It
reiterated to the donor community to contribute generously financially
and in kind to the humanitarian appeal to enable the agencies to
effectively address the plight of the IDPs.

Prior to the president's statement, representatives of the LWF partners
in Angola namely the WFP and UNICEF, and the UN Under-Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator on 24 August
1999 made impassioned speeches at the Security Council meeting in which
they each highlighted the critical situation facing the Angolan
population, and asked the Council to help resolve the long-standing
humanitarian crisis. In Angola, the LWF also works in partnership with
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Proposing that a more forceful attempt be made to stop the hostilities
between the government and UNITA, the UN Under-Secretary, Vieira de
Mello noted that since 1992, there had been over 40 Security Council
resolutions covering the Angolan crisis. "In the same period there have
been countless dead, tens of thousands injured, maimed, deprived of
basic dignity and well over 2 million internally displaced persons and
refugees generated by the conflict. *.Aren't there other measures that
the Council can adopt in order to bring this war to a halt and to ensure
full compliance with its previous decisions?" he asked.

Often referred to as the world's longest civil war, the war in Angola,
pitting UNITA forces against the government has been going on since the
country's independence from Portugal in 1975. The current fighting that
began in December 1998 ended the 1994 Lusaka UN-brokered peace accord.

Vieira de Mello did not overlook the fact that Angola is potentially one
of the richest countries in the southern hemisphere. He noted that over
2.25 billion barrels of oil were found in the southern African country
last year alone, nearly double that in Nigeria. The war impoverished
country was also reported to have produced in 1998 around USD 700
million worth of diamonds, about 10 percent of the annual global
production.

The WFP Executive Director Catherine Bertini, who said Angola had now
reached a level of despair which existed virtually nowhere else in the
world, cited three minimal areas where the UN Security Council could
help ; access so that the WFP, UNICEF and their non-governmental
organization (NGO) partners can reach those in need; security for air
bridges and other transport so that staff are no longer subjected to
attacks; and political commitment by the Angolan government, UNITA and
the international community to negotiate a settlement and provide more
resources for emergency aid and recovery.

The UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said the Angolan crisis had
left the agency in the "sad position" of having to "revisit chapters of
our history that we had hoped had been closed for good." She added that
"UNICEF's Child Risk measure ranks Angola today as the country whose
children are at greatest risk of death, malnutrition, abuse and
development failure.

In one of its resolutions, the LWF Council meeting in Bratislava in June
1999, urged the LWF member churches to build awareness of the civil war
situation in Angola, which has received little media attention and
inadequate international humanitarian response. The LWF member church in
Angola, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Angola, has 23,000 members.
The Angola program is one of the 22 service programs operated by the LWF
Department for World Service (DWS), which serves as the international
relief, rehabilitation and development agency of the federation.

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70 countries
representing 58 million of the world's 61.5 million Lutherans. Its
highest decision making body is the Assembly, held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council
which meets annually, and its Executive Committee. The LWF secretariat
is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information is the information service of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material presented
does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various
units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation (lwi), the
material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/