United Nations HACU Angola - Humanitarian Response 19 - 25 March 1999
General Situation The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) formally presented to the Government its decision to close down its operations in Angola as of 31 March 1999 in view of the lack of adequate funding to implement the programmes and projects it had agreed to with Angolan authorities. Following the continuous shelling of Malange, UCAH´s office in the city was shelled and partially destroyed on 21 March. Shells also landed very close to the offices of the World Food Programme (WFP) in the city. A seminar organised by the NGO Catholic Relief Services for capacity building in Emergency Preparedness and Response Training Programme for NGO staff and personnel from the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reinsertion was held in Luanda during this week. The aim of the programme is to improve the capacity of local NGOs and Government institutions in preparing for and responding to emergency situations in Angola. Humanitarian situation The last few weeks have witnessed a confirmation of the tendency of rural populations to flux to urban centres. Since the start of the conflict presently afflicting Angola, this movement has seriously hampered the productive capacities of the country, particularly in terms of its agricultural output. The insecurity and widespread attacks that have led to these movements have also prevented humanitarian agencies from working outside provincial capitals. Indeed, with the exception of a few provinces (Kwanza Norte, Benguela, Huila, Cunene e Namibe) most of the activities of humanitarian agencies in outlying municipalities have either been suspended or terminated. Owing to the lack of security conditions, humanitarian assistance is virtually halted in Malange, M´banza Congo and now Kuito. The re-start of WFP humanitarian relief flights to Kuito on 23 March was suspended on the same day following a rapid deterioration of the security situation in the area. Most humanitarian staff was again relocated to Luanda pending an amelioration of the situation. In the most populous areas of the country, Huambo, Kuito and Malange, populations have flocked to the cities seeking assistance and refuge from direct attacks on civilians that have caused many deaths and injuries. Moreover, widespread looting and destruction of property and crops has made life in the countryside extremely difficult. In both Huambo and Malange, there are now around 130,000 displaced people and over 60,000 in Kuito. The pressure put by this influx of destitute people (often carrying no more than their clothes) on the local infrastructures is tremendous. While a number of them are seeking refuge with family and friends, they are also inadvertently increasing the vulnerability of these populations. Shortly, and if these conditions persist, Angola will be faced with a worsening of an already dramatic humanitarian situation in view of the debilitated social infrastructures and the limited response capacity in logistical terms. At present, while humanitarian agencies have enough stocks of most relief items in country, there is an insufficiency in the transport capacity to take the products to where they are needed. This problem is compounded by the extreme insecurity of the road network that is forcing over 80% of the delivery of humanitarian items to be done by air. This has tremendously increased the cost of the operation. WFP alone estimates that financing for its immediate food logistics needs an extra US$ 20 million. A relatively feeble response by donors to the Inter-Agency Consolidated Appeal for 1999, is a cause for concern. While Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Holland and Sweden have made donations, the logistical requirements, which constitute a major priority and can not be put off, remain under-funded. There are raising concerns that the agricultural year will come to an end with a very reduced harvest far below expectations. Latest satellite images indicate that the 1998/99 rainy season has been favourable so far, with widespread rains over most regions since October. However, there is little hope that this will translate into increased production as intense fighting is taking place in the major and rich crop growing areas of the Central Highlands (Huambo and Bie provinces), and extending to the north and the east. As a result, many farmers have abandoned their land to join the rapidly increasing number of displaced people, or as refugees to neighbouring countries. Area planted to crops and yields is therefore expected to be considerably reduced this year. Widespread insecurity, new laying of land mines and severely damaged infrastructure are curtailing normal trading and are also hampering distribution of seeds, tools and other agricultural inputs. Consequently, the 1999 crop is expected to be sharply below the output in recent years that will further aggravate the already precarious food supply situation. Moreover, the arrival of the harvesting season has led to a rapid increase in the number of attacks on plantations. The country will have, therefore, to rely heavily on food coming from abroad to meet its basic food needs in the 1999/2000 marketing year. According to the Director of the Department of food security of the Ministry of Agriculture, the production of cereals will be less than 435,000 MT against approximate needs of 1,300.000 MT. While part of the shortfall is covered by imports, both public and private, and food assistance not all needs are fulfilled. It is therefore felt that, despite these circumstances, the humanitarian community should continue to provide agriculture inputs seeds and tools to attempt to create, as soon as possible, conditions of self sufficiency for the displaced populations. This activity, in conjunction with the establish policy of attempting to settle IDPs in locations where they can immediately start planting should help to alleviate food dependency which will otherwise have a tendency to rise. A serious problem that continues to afflict humanitarian agencies is the inability to access great tracts of the country preventing an assessment of the real humanitarian needs in terms of food deficits, health and sanitary conditions, water supply and the number of people with unfulfilled basic needs. However, and based on past experience of humanitarian assistance in the country, it is possible to assert that the effort of the Government, the humanitarian institutions and the international community are covering only a part of the needs of the Angolan population. In this regard, after a decision of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers on 17 March, the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reinsertion is preparing, in consultation with humanitarian partners, and other Government Ministries, a national social welfare plan to address some of these questions and to prepare the ground to provide assistance to all Angolans in need. [This item is delivered in the "irin-extra" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information or free subscriptions, or 2 622129 Web: http://www.reliefweb.int. 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