UNHCR appeals for US $8 million

UNHCR said in a statement on Thursday that is appealing for US $8.4 million for its emergency assistance programme in Angola to assist an estimated 300,000 people. UNHCR sent an assessment mission to the northern provinces of Uige, Zaire and Luanda in March and has since deployed a 12-member emergency team to begin a full-scale relief program for internally displaced persons (IDPs). “Following consultations among UN agencies, UNHCR will principally operate in the three provinces where refugees from the previous conflict have returned. The amount appealed will cover life-saving activities for the first six months of the operation, including provision of basic health and nutrition, water and sanitation, shelter and household materials,” UNHCR said. It added that priority would be given to providing basic health and nutrition (US $815,000), water and sanitation (US $710,040), shelter (US $411,875), essential household materials (US $691,000), transport and logistics (US $1.6 million). An estimated 2.5 million people are displaced in Angola, some 20 percent of the population, as a result of the bitter conflict between the government and UNITA rebels.