UN mandate renewed

The United Nations Security Council on Thursday endorsed the Secretary-General Kofi Annan's recommendation that the
mandate of the United Nations Office in Angola (UNOA) be extended for a further six months.

In a press release the Security Council said that it "reaffirmed its view that a continued United Nations presence in Angola could greatly contribute to the promotion of peace, national reconciliation, human rights and regional security".

The UNOA office focuses on the provision of humanitarian relief and the assistance in capacity-building in the field of human rights.

In his quarterly report to the council Annan said that according to reports by UN agencies and non-governmental organisations indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population and the humanitarian aid community had worsened the humanitarian situation.

Annan also cited allegations of human rights violations that had surfaced against both the UNITA rebel movement and the Angolan government. He said that UNOA had identified three issues that required "special attention".

These are: The need to ensure respect for the human rights of the large numbers of internally displaced people (IDP's), the lack of government and state structures to ensure respect for human rights in areas recently captured from UNITA rebels, and the continuing decline of basic socio-economic benefits for "substantial" parts of the population.

"The humanitarian situation in Angola remains very serious. I reiterate my appeal to all parties concerned to facilitate the delivery of emergency relief assistance. I also urge the donor community to respond as generously as possible to this year's United Nations Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal
for Angola," Annan said.

He said that the funding requirements of the 2000 appeal were US $258 million, of which 25 percent had been covered in the first quarter of this year. "However, the majority of aid received is for food, and complementary sectors of intervention remain under-funded to date."