Angola - OCHA: 20-Dec-04

OCHA Situation Report Angola Monthly Analysis October - November 2004 20 December 2004

Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs This report was written with the assistance and collaboration of the UN Agencies in Angola Overview Given the stabilisation of the humanitarian emergency, the progress made in return and resettlement and new planning mechanisms for the transition period, the Government of Angola and the UN Agencies decided last summer not to launch an appeal for 2005. However, some residual humanitarian needs persist and as funding for humanitarian activities is dwindling, interventions must be sharply focussed, thoughtfully prioritised and well coordinated for maximum effect and to link up with transitional activities. Working together, UN Agencies, national and international NGOs, UTCAH and interested donors have participated in elaborating a strategic document laying out the humanitarian priorities for 2005. The "Humanitarian Framework 2005" is intended to serve as a planning guideline for prioritising interventions and mobilising resources for humanitarian activities. Unlike the Appeal, there are no project proposals or budget included in the Humanitarian Framework. Since the UN and its partners are still too often seen as "distributors" of humanitarian assistance instead of complementing partners, a key advocacy message of the document is the need to shift this perception, particularly in this period of extreme donor fatigue. The Framework aims to complement the UN Development Assistance Framework, bridging any remaining gaps that may exist in terms of humanitarian needs during the transition period. Thus, sectors such as health and education that are covered in the UNDAF are not part of the humanitarian strategy. Six areas of humanitarian concern are prioritised: Advocating for Minimum standards for resettlement in areas of return since the majority of return areas still do not meet government-legislated norms; Improving access through coordinated mine action and support to GoA partner CNIDAH and prioritising humanitarian concerns; Continuing food distributions for 800,000 people, followed by a dramatic cut in the number of beneficiaries until mid-2005 and shift to "development-oriented" activities such as school feeding; Supporting the repatriation of Angolan refugees; HIV/AIDS Advocating respect of human rights and monitoring protection issues. During the period under review, humanitarian partners responded and prepared for the problems expected with the start of the rainy season. A nationwide media campaign was launched to raise awareness on the mine dangers on the road. Access is already limited in the northern regions and some parts of Benguela and Huila, forcing some NGOs to suspend operation. The organised repatriation effort for 2004 began drawing to a close as. Nearly 52,000 Angolan refugees returned by convoy and by airlift during the year. At the end of the agricultural campaign, 15,000 families did not receive seeds time for the main planting season due to logistical and funding problems. FAO will hold distribution to the second season in February. On 1 December, the GoA released the results of the first nation-wide survey of the HIV/AIDS among a group of pregnant women receiving antenatal care in 26 clinics in 18 provinces indicating prevalence rate of 2.8%. The new figures are substantially less than previous estimates of 5.5% but do not necessarily represent a true decline in the HIV prevalence in Angola as different methodology were used and the control group of pregnant women attending ante-natal clinics is very narrow (in general, fewer than 40% of pregnant women attend clinics). The rates in border provinces such as Cunene and Uige are still alarmingly high at 9.12% and 4.8% respectively. It is vitally important caution is exercised: rather than let the guard down our guard, Angola must take advantage of potentially historic opportunity to prove the epidemic can be brought under control in the country. In a laudable effort of coordination and advocacy, UNICEF and the GoA have worked together on a plan to address the problems of street children in Luanda and other urban capitals. This issue is highlighted on page X of this report. Access and Coordination Mine Action Landmines were high on the international agenda in November, when the Summit for a Mine Free World took place in Nairobi. The event was the first Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty of 1997, known as the Ottawa Convention, marking the halfway point between the treaty's establishment under international law in 1999, and the 2009 deadline for most signatories to fulfil their treaty commitments. Conference delegates were reminded that landmines have disabled one in every 415 Angolans and continue to be a major obstacle to daily life: denying access to land for agriculture, safe water sources, and threatening Angolans' hopes for normalcy. In Nairobi, Angola confirmed its commitment to the ban on landmines, and called upon the international community to continue supporting its efforts in achieving its obligations. Angola voiced its consent to the "Nairobi Action Plan 2005-2009" to ensure implementation of the convention and underscored the importance of assistance to the victims of landmine accidents. Angola also adopted the African Union's "Common African Position on Antipersonnel Landmines" to promote and develop intra-African cooperation and capacity to implement the convention and mainstream landmine programmes with development. Article 4 Ottawa Convention states that State Parties must destroy their stockpiled anti-personnel landmines within four years of their accession to the AP mine-ban convention ? by 1 January 2007 in Angola's case. According to the 2004 Landmine Monitor Report, the Angolan Armed Forces stockpile 50,659 antipersonnel mines, of which 1,360 mines will be retained for training purposes. The size or composition of the landmine stockpile that was held by former UNITA military forces remains unknown. This figure does not include other Explosive Remnants of War (ERW), such as anti-vehicle mines, ordnance, and grenades, left over from various stages of the conflict. A joint UNDP-GoA project called "Implementation of the Ottawa Convention through the disposal of stockpiled anti-personnel landmines," was finalised in November. The national mine action authority, CNIDAH, will implement the project with technical support from UNDP. Other project partners include Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and National De-mining Institute (INAD). UNDP will seek to develop the technical, managerial and administrative capacities of the national partners to conduct the stockpile destruction operation of anti-personnel landmines according to the international humanitarian mine-action standards. The project will begin early next year with Euro 1.5 million in support from the European Commission. As of 1 December, 131 victims had been registered in 154 mine incidents countrywide, according to data collected by UNSECOORD. There were more than 20 mine and UXO incidents during the past two months alone, the large majority of them in Moxico and Bie. In Moxico, several recent returnees, including children, were killed or injured in the bairros in and around Luena and Luau. Humanitarian partners have been very concerned about reports of returnees settling in known mined areas in and around Luau. In addition to several UXO accidents involving children, dozens of mines and hundreds of UXOs, including a cache of more than 300 explosives, were found since the beginning of October. During a UN meeting of permanent representatives in New York in October Angola was appointed to coordinate the forum of countries most affected by landmines. Put in place by the Angolan Government, in collaboration with the UNDP Mine Action section, the forum aims to create a more efficient and coordination mine action for the main demining partners, mainly through setting up cooperation to exchange experiences and best practices in demining programmes amongst member states. According to the Angolan Representative to the UN, Ismael Gaspar Martins, the forum will set a positive precedent for south-south cooperation amongst the countries most affected by landmines. Access Now one month into the rainy season, the effects are beginning to be felt in the provinces. The deteriorating weather situation during the reporting period aggravated the logistical challenges of both air and land transport for the repatriation effort. Convoys were more difficult to move to departure airports in Zambia and Angola, and from reception hubs onward to their final destinations inside Angola. Many air rotations had to be cancelled during in October and November as heavy rains deteriorated the conditions of the dirt landing strips of Cazombo, Luau and Lumbala N'guimbo and diversions to circumvent heavy storm clouds caused fuel shortages. As planned, the airlift segment of the repatriation effort stopped on 30 November and the convoys will end on 15 December. Secondary roads are becoming impassable, especially in the North, and some bridges have been destroyed in Benguela. Some NGOs in the north have had to suspend activities due to difficult access. In Huambo town many streets are almost impassable due to the heavy rains combined with traffic caused by lack of road maintenance. Also in Huambo, food products, especially sugar, oil and milk, have been scarce in the great majority of shops, probably related to transport difficulties. It could, however, be a speculative manoeuvre connected with higher prices in the rainy season. As planned, the UNICEF and GoA joint national campaign to prevent mine accidents on the road was launched in October. Fiquemos no Caminho Certo (Let's stay on the right path) is using television, radio and thousands of mobilisers to inform drivers of the dangers of leaving the road, as well as urging passengers to speak out if a driver decides to stray off the main road. The campaign has faced some constraints ? in some provinces the distribution of visibility materials was not done in time for the provincial launch of the campaign, and at national level an informational weekly radio programme on Radio Nacional was not broadcast as planned. The campaign will continue until the end of March. Results collated from four of the seven provinces that participated in the first phase of the campaign report a total of 3,918 drivers and 35,594 passengers reached so far. Protection Establishing national human rights institutions in Angola is one of the main recommendations of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and a move that was strongly supported by the African Union in October. Currently, the Angolan constitutional law calls for an Ombudsman to receive citizen's complaints. This post has never officially been filled and has been provisionally represented by the Prosecutor General. The new constitutional project as it stands currently maintains the Ombudsman and also calls for the creation of a National Human Rights Commission to represent and defend citizens' rights. To gain insight into the experiences of different models of national human rights institutions, the Human Rights Office invited three Members of Parliament for a three-week study tour to South Africa, Brazil, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador in October, countries with applicable models of ombudsman and human rights commissions. Based, inter alia, on the experiences of these countries, the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission is now preparing a proposal for the establishment of a national human rights institution in Angola. Additionally, on 8-9 December the National Assembly hosted a two-day workshop on the role of human rights institutions and to discuss possible future model for Angola with guests from government, the judiciary, and civil society. Should both institutions be maintained, it will be necessary to clearly define the role of each to avoid overlapping or conflict. The Human Rights Office (HRO) training program for police has accelerated over the past few months. After a five-day workshop with the Rapid Intervention Police in Luanda, the training team implemented the shorter three-day version in the four provincial capitals of Namibe, Huila, Cunene, and Cabinda respectively. Core subjects of each workshop were international and national norms for police work, the rule of law in a democracy, the rights of children and women, and the HIV/AIDS problematic. Encouragingly, the training was well received by the participants, comprised of police officers of varying ranks, who requested more similar events. In another notable sign of openness, the police in Cabinda invited the recently created local human rights association Mpalabanda to give a presentation on their work in human rights. The ulimate goal of the HRO is to integrate the human rights training into the police's own training programs. Food Security So far, people seem to be coping with the drought affecting the southern and littoral regions of the country. In response to reports of drought and critical food needs in Kuanza Sul, a Rapid Food Needs Assessment, carried out 20-23 October in the localities of Kilenda, Porto Amboim and Sumbe, found that households had regular access to food thanks to the sale of fruits, charcoal, wood, and small livestock animals. Also, livestock have access to water all year long owing to the dams on the rivers Cubal and Longa Inha. On a separate recent field visit to the area and the commune of Capolo, the UN HC/RC found the immediate reaction of local administrations to UN interlocutors was to submit a list of needs. However, when probed, local administrations often did have adequate response plans to the conditions. The situation is illustrative of how the UN and partners are still perceived as "distributors" of humanitarian assistance, rather than complementing partners. Shifting this perception, particularly in this period of extreme donor fatigue, is a key priority for the upcoming year. As planned with the more focused operations, combined with a longer-term exit strategy, WFP is restructuring its field presence in Angola. The agency closed its office in Ndalatando in response to significant improvements in the food security situation in Kwanza Norte province. According to the results of the last Vulnerability Analysis, no signs of food insecurity were found in the province despite the fact that 75 percent of the WFP caseload is comprised of fairly recent returnees. These returnees are assisted until they complete one full cycle harvest, after which they should be able to cope without food aid. Even though WFP support is continuing through implementing partners to 25,000 beneficiaries in Kwanza Norte, populations in the province reacted poorly to the news and an intervention was required from Luanda to soothe concerns. As the UN and partners re-evaluate and shift operations from emergency to transition and development, it will be important to ensure that local government counterparts and the population is informed to prevent misunderstandings. At nearly the end of the year, WFP had resourced just over US$80 million against the original estimated requirement of US$136 million for 2004. Requirements were dramatically reduced in the third quarter owing to a reduction in the number of beneficiaries and poor donor response to other activities such as school feeding. WFP still needs US$77 million to carry out its two-year operation until the end of 2005 as well as an additional US$ 1.2 million to run WFP the Air Passenger Service needs through mid-2005, when the service is supposed to end. With mid-November the 'deadline' to sow seeds for the main 2004/2005 planting season passed, agricultural partners finished up seeds and tools distribution activities. Refugees who returned in 2004, particularly in Moxico and Huambo provinces, were the priority target group. Unfortunately, some targeted for seeds and tools distribution did not receive inputs on time due to late receipt of funding, which cut down procurement and delivery time and in many cases inputs arrived late in the country. NGOs and FAO decided to postpone the distribution for February 2005, in order to avoid losing the seeds to late planting. In the Planalto region, the population was assisted with a limited kit of seeds because the tools arrived late. Thanks to tools received from World Vision during the previous campaign, the population was able to plant some cultures. Restocking of small animals and oxen in the precarious Planalto region to reinforce livelihoods at family level in a medium term through diversification of income and increase of cultivated areas are on going, but with delays. The distribution has been slower than expected due to veterinary protocols to prevent distribution of sick animals and the spread of any contagious illnesses. Huila may remain precarious during the coming months if the rain pattern is not favourable to crop production. Last year, irregular rains in some regions and torrential rains in others had a negative impact in crop development. However the situation could have been minimized if the population had more seeds to plant and a wider variety of cultures The programme of community land delimitations, whereby the authorities delineate parcels of land and issue ownership titles for the communities working on these lands, has restarted in the provinces of Huambo, Benguela and Huila. These activities once concluded will ensure at the community level access to land which is an important factor for investment and stabilisation of the population. The process will also serve as an incentive for the community to invest in the land without fear of it being taken from them in the future. A food security database is being developed in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER) at central, provincial and municipal levels. Data collected in each municipality will be used to prepare an "atlas" of municipal profiles gathering indicators on Agriculture, Livestock, Natural Resources, Socio-economic context and basic family livelihoods. The methodology for data collection has been successfully tested in the province of Zaire and presented during a workshop of the national Instituto de Desenvolvimento Agrario. Results will be available around mid-2005. Collected data will serve to refine food security analysis but also as the basis for the preparation of a future national census on agriculture and livestock. Public Health The Government released its first nation-wide survey of the HIV/AIDS on 1 December indicating a prevalence rate of 2.8 percent. The new figures are substantially less than previous estimates of 5.5% but do not necessarily represent a true decline in the HIV prevalence in Angola as different methodology and data were used and the control group was pregnant women attending ante-natal clinics (which is less than 40 percent). The province of Cunene had the highest prevalence rate of 9.12%, followed by Uige at 4.8%, clearly indicating a greater threat among the border areas. The main concern is that the low figures will deflate the momentum to fight the epidemic. The UN's message is that Angola has a unique window of opportunity to successfully fight HIV/AIDS. In demonstrating the epidemic can be controlled, Angola has the historic chance to give a message of a concrete hope to the world, especially Sub-Saharan countries. This requires a strong leadership to coordinate a national multi-sectoral and decentralised response. In late October, the GoA with support from UNICEF led a workshop to analyse in an integrated manner how programs, activities, and actions related to Feeding and Nutrition are leading to meeting the Millennium Development Goals. A total of 61 participants from government Ministries, UN organizations, the armed forces and NGOs participated and gave inputs on Angola's efforts in reduction of hunger and poverty, reduction of infant mortality, improvement of maternal health and combat of HIV/AIDS and malaria and how to guarantee primary education, promotion of gender equality and a sustainable environment. The workshop came up with a cause-analysis framework for nutrition and feeding and strategies for Nutrition and Feeding that can contribute to achieving the MDG goals. It also created a mapping of programs, activities and actions leading to adequate feeding and nutrition. A technical team nominated during the workshop will finalise the case study on Angola. National vaccination coverage rates for children under 1 year of age increased from 43 percent in 2003 to 60 percent in the period January to June 2004 as a result of longstanding efforts to improve routine immunization services with capacity building, outreach, logistical support and supervision. Since September 2003, WHO has been supporting MINSA's effort to improve routine immunization services for children under 1 year of age in 59 municipalities comprising 75 percent of the total population of Angola. Strategies developed include immunization at fixed health centres as well as regular outreach vaccination for children without access. Other important elements of amplifying routine immunization include training of municipal health technicians, provision of the necessary logistics implement activities, and supervision from national and provincial levels, with an emphasis on data collection and analysis. WHO technicians are supporting provincial ministries of health to improve disease surveillance through regular supervisions and active case searching. Improved disease surveillance is important to detect epidemics and coordinate responses (in the case of meningitis or measles), and to document the eradication of poliomyelitis as part of the worldwide polio eradication effort. Provincial level technicians, both with MINSA and WHO are provided the means needed to regularly supervise important health centres. They are encouraged to integrate the supervision of other activities, such as routine immunization, vaccine management, and logistics into their field visits. Extensive surveillance systems for malnutrition established over the emergency years with the support of the humanitarian community is still needed to identify early potential nutritional crises and situations of nutritional distress to respond rapidly. Alerts of a meningitis outbreak were sounded in Calai, Kuando Kubango, in early October. In the following three weeks five more cases from Calai where treated in the same hospital. Namibian authorities were notified and implemented a vaccination campaign against Meningococcal meningitis among population in Rundu, especially for Angolan refugees on that side of the border. Although neither Angolan nor Namibian health authorities officially declared an outbreak, all return operations to Calai were stopped. A Public Health team in Kuando Kubango investigated the situation and reported to the Ministry of Health and drugs, vaccines and supplies were sent to Menongue in order to organize a vaccination campaign and response in early November. Movimundo and other NGOs working in the area have been very supporting the treatment to the patients, and advocating for prompt response and the timely provision of information to the Angolan health authorities. Overall, the status of public health coverage is a grave concern in Kuando Kubango. The province continuously faces serious problems in terms of health facilities, availability of essential drugs and qualified and trained staff. In October, MINSA reported a rupture in the stock of medicines. Repatriation Final Figures By 15 December, the final return figure for 2004 will be about 52,000. The repatriation met just over half the originally planned target of 90,000 due to various constraints including a late start, slow rehabilitation of roads and demining and lack onward transport. Additionally, some refugees who planned to return decided to stay in asylum countries. For 2005, the final year of the Angolan organised repatriation process, UNHCR is planning for about 54,000 organised returns. MINARS will take over running at least four reception centres and the NGO implementing partners will be cut back to 15 from 23 international NGOs. IOM will continue to work closely with UNHCR and other partners in order to achieve the target caseload. Given the affect of the delayed start in 2004, IOM has been fundraising to facilitate timely planning and logistical preparations to start the 2005 VolRep season as early as March. Education The importance of Early Childhood Development received an official boost in October when the Council of the Ministers approved the creation of an the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the issue, composed of 16 Ministries, the National Institute of the Child and coordinated by the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reinsertion. The Commission's primary objective is to promote synergies and coordinate actions related to Early Childhood to avoid duplication. Efforts should be made to facilitate the participation of social partners such as NGOs and Churches. Following the National Forum on Integrated Early Childhood Care and Development (IECD) in June, early childhood issues have gained prominence in the capital but transmission of the message and activities to the provincial level continues to be weak. Better communication and further decentralisation within the Ministry of Education between central and provincial levels is needed. Working with the participation of local communities, NGOs are expected to complete the construction of 460 classrooms in 6 provinces (Uige, Moxico, Kuando Kubango, Zaire, Malanje, Bie and Huambo) by the end of the year in time for the new school year in February. Efforts to extend access to school for out-of-school children, mostly in resettlement areas are on-going but activities are hampered by delays in construction, weak supervision of local authorities, and the lack of teachers available in those areas. Focus on Street Children 'Street children' and other homeless groups (people with disabilities, the elderly and homeless families in Luanda) emerged as an issue of national prominence in October when the Government of Luanda announced its intention to remove 1,566 children and all other homeless individuals from the streets. UNICEF quickly advocated for an immediate stop to the operations. The historical policy of institutionalising children has shown to create more problems than it solves, and the potential for perpetration of human rights violations during the clean-up operations is worryingly high. Calling for a human rights approach to the issue, UNICEF started working with the Government to find alternative solutions. The issue of "street children" in Angola is a complex urban phenomenon, common to many cities around the world. Separated children who live on the street - the so-called "street children" - are actually the minority. A wider group is comprised of thousands and thousands of children who work on the streets during the day cleaning cars, shoes, selling small goods, but then return home at night or at the end of the week. Their family links are often fragile and they live on or below the poverty line. All these children are most at risk of exploitation, discrimination and abuse, and in some cases there is a grey area making it difficult to cut a clear distinction between these 'categories.' Another group that must be taken into consideration are the thousands of children of vulnerable families living in extreme poverty in the outskirts of the city who are in constant risk of falling into the first two groups due to widespread poverty. As a result of high-level political advocacy and technical level meetings support, the Government reacted promptly, updating and revising the clean-up strategy (known in Portuguese as "Estrategia de Respostas Sociais no Ambito dos Grupos Vulneraveis de e na Rua"), putting it more in harmony with key human rights principles. Following the review of these national policy guidelines and principles, the Government established a special Task Force comprised of MINARS, National Institute for Children (INAC) and the Ministry of Women & Family, to develop an approach to replace the former clean-up operation strategy. With UNICEF technical support, the Task Force developed and began to implement an Operation Plan. Major actions include an emergency training and planning workshop for Municipal Administrators and other key actors in each municipio and Provincial Directors of all sectors (Health, Education, Women & Family, MINARS, INAC, Police, etc). Simultaneously, in order to speed-up the identification, tracing and family reunification process, UNICEF supported a refresher training and planning workshop for MINARS delegates from all provinces. The predicament of children on the streets cannot be unravelled through any single action and will require a long-term response. The challenge is not only to address the problems of those already in the streets, but also to prevent more children ending up in the streets. An effective solution must be based on a sound and coherent social policy that protects the rights of children, supports poverty reduction and increased access to education as well as other essential basic services. 2004 Appeal Update By December, the Consolidated Appeal for Transition (CAT) for Angola had received almost US$ 115 million in resources - nearly 85 percent funded though the amount sought was lower than in previous appeals and was revised significantly downwards during the year. Funding levels varied dramatically between sectors. For example, UNICEF was fully funded with more than US$11 million. WFP faced severe funding problems during the year, forcing it to dramatically reduce its food assistance programme. |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |FUNDING LEVELS| | | | | | | FOR 2004 | | | | | | | APPEAL - 10 | | | | | | |December 2004 | | | | | | |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| | Appealing | Original | Revised |Total Resources| Unmet | % Covered | | Organisation | Requirements | Requirements | Available | Requirements | | |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |FAO | 14,940,500| 5,724,865| 1,962,653| 3,838,555| 67.10%| |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |IOM | 18,782,369| 10,956,382| 7,849,425| 3,106,957| 71.60%| |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |OCHA | 3,754,506| 3,549,506| 3,376,436| 173,436| 95.10%| |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |OHCHR | 1,200,000| 1,361,755| 296,736| 1,065,019| 21.80%| |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |UNDP | 6,315,839| 1,444,475| 1,185,662| 258,813| 82.10%| |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |UNFPA | 1,499,500| 999,666| 0| 999,666| 0.00%| |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |UNHCR | 18,881,586| 17,318,335| 18,341,316| -1,022,981| 100.00%| |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |UNICEF | 10,917,350| 10,917,350| 11,542,597| -625,247| 100.00%| |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |UNMAS | 122,000| 0| 0| 0| 0.00%| |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |WFP | 146,371,795| 61,378,233| 66,194,873| -4,816,640| 100.00%| |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |WHO | 7,757,745| 2,351,275| 627,587| 1,723,688| 26.70%| |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |ONGs | 32,044,512| 20,018,420| 916,842| 18,337,009| 5.00%| |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| |GRAND TOTAL | 262,587,702| 136,020,262| 114,934,598| 21,085,664| 84.50%| |--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+------------| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Center for International web: www.cidi.org Disaster Information listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -