Interview with Erick de Mul UN Humanitarian Coordinator

The spontaneous return of displaced Angolans to their homes and a decision by the government to close the quartering areas for former UNITA rebels and their families have created fresh challenges for the humanitarian community. In an interview with IRIN, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Angola Erick de Mul elaborated on the current crisis and urged the government to increase its assistance to its people. QUESTION: How would you characterise the humanitarian situation in Angola at the moment? ANSWER: A mixed picture - on one hand there are some positive developments, on the other hand there are some developments that are worrisome. The good thing is that a number of IDPs [internally displaced persons] have moved back home - about 850,000 and it is estimated that we will get to about 900,000 before the end of the year. The bad news is that not all of them have returned home while the authorities were respecting the rules of the game, the norms. But increasingly it seems these norms are being respected. On the refugees, there is not much happening, a trickle of return - and maybe that's good, because there is still a lot to be done within the country and maybe if they can wait a little that is better. The main problem is with the former UNITA combatants. [There are some 80,000 former UNITA troops and over 300,000 family members in 42 reception centres] It took weeks, months, to create and establish the necessary logistics to get the necessary stuff to them, then the moment that this is more or less running smoothly, then the decision is taken that these camps are to be closed [by December] and this interrupts the whole picture again. Given the fact that these people had to move home, it would have been useful if this had been done in an orderly manner, with warning to the international community when this was going to happen. I guess the decision was a political one and taken in what looked like some haste. Things seemed to slow down a bit because either in places the conditions are not there, the logistics are not in place or it's not clear where the people are going to. It's still a little unclear and it's bad in a sense that it happens when the rainy season is upon us - the worst period you can imagine. Hopefully we will get some clarity. Q: Is it your impression that the government has a coherent strategy for the return and resettlement of former combatants? A: Maybe somewhere on paper there is a comprehensive solution but it doesn't seem to be working, or known. Responsibility for implementation of this plan, assuming it's there, was given to provincial governments, but I doubt the necessary instruments and tools were given to the authorities to really do it. This is why you see different scenarios developing in the various provinces depending on what the situation there is, and what the position of the UNITA soldiers there is. Q: You said that some of the IDP returns complied with the norms. How many exactly? A: Thirty percent complied with the norms. It's a question of is the glass half full or half empty. You could say it could have been a lot better - in fact 70 percent better - but could also have been 30 percent worse. I think most of us feel it could have been worse. Maybe we can be a little bit satisfied. Q: Are the other 70 percent now getting any help? A: Not enough. We are seeing the pattern that has developed that the IDPs move, yes, or part of the family moves to where they are going to resettle but they keep a link with the camps they are coming from, they keep their ration card and keep going back and forth so they can still pick up food and other things if necessary - that's a coping mechanism. Q: Over the last six months we've seen a rapid rise in the number of people needing emergency help - from 1.5 to 1.9 million. Do you expect numbers to continue to rise? A: I think they are levelling off - the 800,000 [returnees] will be able to stay, even with difficulties, and hopefully get through the rainy season and hopefully catch some access to seeds and tools. But the coming months could be a bit difficult. Certain groups could be cut off, if the roads deteriorate. WFP [UN World Food Programme] notably is trying to set up what you could call supply centres, where food would be available if people can find ways and means to reach those centres where they can pick up food and walk back and forth. Q: Given this fluid situation, how are you managing to plan ahead? A: We haven't been able to do that [plan ahead] since January. As long as I have been here we have been developing different scenarios, planning in a vacuum - but there are some things that we know, and say if this happens we do that. So if you talk of planning in a traditional manner, no, we haven't been able to do that for a long time - so we are up against the same problem. What it means is that we are always running behind the facts, always in a situation where we have to catch up. Q: How has the response from donors been? The last figure I heard was that the UN had received about half of the US $292 million which it requested for this year. A: The latest calculation is about 53 percent - in the context of appeals for other countries not bad - again you can never be happy because you want 100 percent. Most of it is indeed food and this is always the easiest commodity to obtain. For next year the appeal is higher, it stands at US $380 million. The reason for that is the case load, the number of potential victims is larger. On the other hand we are trying to tell the donors if we invest a bit more now we may shorten the period during which emergency assistance is necessary, and if we give less that period might be prolonged - so why not try to give it a boost so that by the end of next year we can declare the whole emergency over. We keep telling everyone, we believe it is possible and we want to make a point, the war is over, the war was over in April, by end of next year it will be a year and eight months, and in principle that should be sufficient to deal with the emergency humanitarian situation - we want to make that clear. Q: Surely that's a best case scenario, relying on a good relationship between yourselves and the government? A: The government needs to do things according to their own legislation. That would help. More investment in basic social sectors combined with infrastructure repair and rehabilitation which is starting, but which will be held up by the rainy season, but it can start again, so people can move. Make sure that when people are put on their way they can do that properly, so they can reach their destination without major obstacles, and when they arrive they can start their lives, and for a while still be assisted. Our hope and expectation is that the government will indeed do more to help that process, and that is particularly important because once donors see government is enhancing its role, that will also trigger off a more positive response from the donors.