UN appeal revised upwards

The United Nations this week launched the mid-term review of its Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for Angola saying the resumption of the war between government forces and UNITA rebels after the breakdown of the UN-brokered Lusaka Protocol peace accords last December had forced it to seek extra donor funding. Citing a "worst case scenario" in terms of human suffering, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said its original 1999 appeal for US $66,665,852 had been surpassed and that it now required US $105,978,190. "Unfortunately, the number of new internally displaced persons (IDPs)has risen from 4,000 in April 1998 to over 950,000 as of 1 June 1999 because of the war," OCHA said in an executive summary. "Currently, not including vulnerable persons from non-accessible areas, there are nearly two million war-affected people displaced or in besieged cities who require immediate assistance. The lack of resources to address the emergency is causing resident and displaced people to compete for the scarce resources needed, in some cases, to save lives." to ensure a smooth transition to development. It said the war and consequent deterioration in the humanitarian situation had not only increased those in need, but had adversely affected the delivery of relief aid: "While the Appeal strategy was designed to be flexible to address the changing environment in Angola, the amount of emergency assistance anticipated fell far short of today's reality. "Air transport necessary for the safe delivery of relief aid and personnel has been used almost exclusively since the beginning of the year dramatically increasing the logistical costs of operations outlined in the Appeal," it said. It noted that as of 9 June this year, the response from donors had remained low given the state of the emergency in Angola. It said the humanitarian community in Angola agreed that the priority issue remained the severe nutritional situation. "In order to save lives as the crisis worsens, the humanitarian community must step up the provision of food aid, as well as urgent public health and food security interventions that will address the root causes of malnutrition," it said. The World Food Programme (WFP) has more than doubled its original food aid request to meet current requirements. To date, 70 percent of WFP's original request towards the 1999 Appeal had been received. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had also increased their requirement for certain projects that specifically address the current emergency. Like the UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)has also assessed the situation in Angola to be "extremely serious" and it too is currently reviewing its 1999 financial requirement for Angola upwards. The full document is available on the website www.irinnews.org