More support for returning populations

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has received a funding boost for projects aimed at supporting the ongoing return and resettlement of Angolan refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and demobilised solders. The government of Angola estimates that some 3.3 million people, including former refugees, IDPs and demobilised soldiers have returned to their places of origin since the peace treaty in April 2002 ended nearly 25 years of civil war. Most people have returned to villages in Kuando Kubango, Huambo and Kuanza Sul provinces. IOM "is helping to provide thousands of returnees, and the communities to which they return, with desperately needed infrastructure and services to reduce tensions and stabilise populations" through its Return, Reinsertion and Reintegration (RRR) programme. The US $745,000 IOM has now received in funding support from Sweden and South Africa adds to the US $1.3 million received from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the US Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). "Since October 2003, IOM Angola, working with the Angolan government, local communities, NGOs and UN agencies, has been helping vulnerable populations in need of reintegration support in Huambo and Kuanza Sul. Support includes population stabilisation, reconciliation, confidence building and income-generation schemes," the agency said. Luz Tantaruna, an IOM spokeswoman in Luanda, told IRIN that rehabilitation projects were being conducted with the "direct participation of communities". IOM provided tools, training and some payment for projects aimed at rehabilitating schools and health posts, while the UN World Food Programme (WFP) contributed a food-for-work element. Income-generation projects included training, inputs and equipment that enabled communities to farm vegetables, chickens and fish. "Between January and March 2004, 32 new microprojects with an average per capita cost of US $136 were put in place. These provide support for some 2,207 people, including 854 demobilised soldiers from the ex-FMU (Forcas Militares da UNITA)," IOM said. Taking into account Angola's average family size of five, the projects had improved the lives of over 11,000 people. "The new funding, which consists of US $670,000 from Sweden and US $75,000 from South Africa, will allow the project to expand to help another 25,000 people, especially demobilised soldiers, in selected areas in Kuando Kubango," IOM explained. As part of the UN's 2004 Consolidated Appeal for Transition for Angola, IOM has requested US $6.3 million to extend its projects.