Agency reaching new beneficiaries in southwest

Christian relief and development agency Tearfund is helping to get much needed emergency food aid and agricultural inputs to parts of Angola ravaged by years of conflict. "After more than two decades of devastating civil war, many thousands of people in Angola have been displaced and lack access to life's basics, such as food, water and healthcare. Following the ceasefire in April this year, large areas of the country are now open to humanitarian access for the first time, revealing a previously hidden humanitarian crisis. "Disrupting food production, a tactic employed during the conflict, contributed significantly to the failure of this year's harvest and alarming rates of malnutrition in Bunjei [in the southwest of the country] and its surrounding areas," Tearfund said in a statement. The organisation is embarking on new relief efforts this week, to reach some 14,000 people in Bunjei. Tearfund also operates in several countries affected by the regional food shortage. "Thanks to the generous response to Tearfund's Southern Africa Appeal, more than [US $6.2 million] has been raised to date, enabling Tearfund's partners in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Angola to help ease the current crisis," the agency added. Meanwhile, the International Federation of the Red Cross/Crescent (IFRC) has launched an appeal to support the Angolan Red Cross (ARC) in the country's recovery efforts after 27 years of conflict. The appeal is for nearly US $3.3 million to assist 100,000 people over the next six months. The IFRC said nine provinces would benefit from the appeal. Most of the ARC health posts were destroyed during the civil war and will be rehabilitated. Training of volunteers, HIV/AIDS awareness programmes, restocking essential drugs and laboratory equipment as well as rehabilitation of clean water supply lines and sanitation, were all part of the appeal programme. It also included distribution of agricultural tools and seeds, as well as food and non-food relief. "This emergency appeal is targeting the most vulnerable, amongst them, internally displaced persons. But equally important is the support to the ARC - itself a victim of this long civil war," a statement quoted Jean Ayoub, IFRC's director of operations, as saying. www.tearfund.org www.ifrc.org