 History
World Food Programme has been present in Angola since
the late seventies, providing food aid to an average
of as many as 1 million people every month in Angola
for the last two years (since the end of the war in
2002). The majority of the people who were hungry were
displaced persons who had to abandon their homes as
a result of the 27 year-long civil conflict.On 4 April
2002 the Government and UNITA signed a cease-fire agreement
that led to the end of what is still considered to have
been the “longest running civil war in Africa”.The
end of hostilities translated into increased access
to regions that were previously cut-off from humanitarian
aid while large numbers of demobilized soldiers and
their relatives were also in urgent need of assistance.
The number of people assisted by the WFP increased by
nearly 80%.In carrying out its operations in Angola,
WFP faces various difficulties such as access problems
deriving from derelict roads, bridges and airstrips.
The danger of landmines is still present in many parts
of the country and this also affects access to the needy
as well as the free movement of people and goods.
Current operations
Three decades of civil war left destroyed infrastructures
and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. The
massive population movements – mostly to urban
areas - that took place during the war resulted in much
agricultural land unattended or rendered inaccessible
by millions of landmines.In addition, Angola’s
under 5-mortality rate was 260/1000 in 2002 and the
country ranked 160 th on the human development index.
Less than one in two children are enrolled in school.
As a result, also owing to the continuing food shortages
in the country, food aid remains an essential part of
the humanitarian response for Angola. To assist Angola
to meet its food needs WFP currently has three active
projects: a main food distribution and two Special Operations
to assist the efforts of the humanitarian community
through transport and logistical support.
Food distribution project (PRRO 10054.2)
The food distribution project is in line with Millennium
Development Goals 1 (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger),
3 (ensure universal primary education), 4 (reduce child
mortality), 5 (improve maternal health) and 6 (combat
HIV/AIDS). The project is primarily targeted at newly
arrived returnees or food insecure populations who were
recently resettled. The second largest group of beneficiaries
of WFP food aid are those engaged in Food-for-Work activities,
which help build and repair vital infrastructures such
as health centers, schools, roads and airstrips. Another
important group of people who benefit from the agency’s
food assistance are primary school children. Through
WFP’s School feeding programme, about 130,000
children receive nutritious meals at school. Besides
helping to improve the nutritional status of children,
this project also helps improve school attendance rates
and reduce drop out rates. WFP has more than 300 implementing
partners in Angola, including government institutions,
NGO’s and UN agencies. Finally, WFP continues
to provide food distribution to people who are moderately
or severely malnourished and to their caregivers, as
well as to patients and their caregivers under treatment
for a variety of serious illnesses including pellagra,
tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS and victims of natural disasters.
ince the beginning of 2004, there has been a precipitous
drop in donor contributions to this operation. Due to
lack of funding WFP was forced to introduce several
drastic measures including ration cuts for both internal
and external returnees, as well as Food-for-Work beneficiaries,
to 50% of the standard ration since April 2004 and reducing
cereal distributions to just 50% of the standard ration
for FFW/FFA beneficiaries. WFP is appealing to donors
to urgently contribute about USD 17 mn or 26, 000Mt
to enable it to provide assistance to the needy population
of the country until December 2005.
Passenger Air Services for the Humanitarian Community
(SO 10146.1)
Each month this project provides approximately
1,000 people in the Angola humanitarian community with
passenger air services to areas inaccessible by either
surface means or reliable commercial air services. In
addition, it enables emergency air transport for humanitarian
workers in the event of the need for medical or security
evacuation and offers transportation of limited quantities
of non-food-items using passenger aircraft. During the
recent outbreak of the Marburg virus (related to Ebola,
of unknown origin) this service provided essential air
transportation to the humanitarian community engaged
in the fight to contain the epidemic. An estimated USD
400,000 are still needed to keep this service running
until the end of the year.
Bridge Reconstruction (SO 10375.01)
Estimated to cost approximately USD 7 million over a
period of 15 months, its objective is to improve access
to vulnerable populations through the erection of temporary
bridges where a large number of IDPs and refugees will
resettle. The plan is to provide at least 15 new metal
bridges throughout the country, though principally in
the Plan Alto and Moxico province. This project
is fully funded thanks to generous contributions from
the European Union, The United Kingdom. |
