IRIN Focus Report on the growing humanitarian crisis

During a recent week-long visit to Angola, UN Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari expressed his “dismay” at the conditions he witnessed among internally displaced persons (IDPs) forced to flee their homes from fighting between government forces and UNITA rebels. Upon visiting the central highland town of Huambo, Angola’s second city, at the weekend, Gambari, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General for Special Assignments in Africa, said: “What I saw in Huambo made me very unhappy. That’s why I am already working to find a better way to improve the situation.” Zoraida Mesa, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Angola, who accompanied Ambassador Gambari on a visit to Viana about 20 km east of the capital, Luanda, said: “I share Ambassador Gambari’s concerns about the conditions of the displaced. His visit comes at a time when the Government of Angola, working closely with humanitarian partners, is starting to implement the recent Rapid Assessment Report on Critical Needs in Angola.” Her remarks were made after seeing first-hand encampments in Viana where 6,000 displaced Angolans, and 6,500 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are living in unventilated tents and mud huts. Although water is accessible, they found a shortage of latrines. Gambari expressed his concern and said there did not appear to be any firm plans for the future of the people there. Latest humanitarian report In its latest update, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Angola cited growing insecurity in large parts of the country hampering humanitarian access. Recent attacks in Chicuma, in the western province of Benguela, and south Catata, in Huambo Province in the central highlands, have caused large movements of displaced people into the municipalities of Caluquembe and Caconda in Huila Province, in southwest Angola, the OCHA report said. “Over 235,000 persons were registered in Huila Province (south of Benguela) 165,000 of whom are new IDPs. The highest concentrations of IDPs are in Matala, Quipungo, Civango, Caluqembe and Caconda. A significant military presence has been reported in many of the IDP camps in the province,” OCHA said. Humanitarian access difficult In southern Benguela Province, OCHA described the security situation as tense. “WFP (the UN’s World Food Programme) reports that the worsening security in the interior of the province was making it difficult to access many of the people in need,” OCHA said. It added that many people in the interior of the province were not receiving help as a “direct result of the worsening security situation”. It said that a joint mission by Concern, the Dutch chapter of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF-H), the Angolan health ministry, WFP and the UN Security Unit had visited Kangandala in the northern Malanje Province to assess the possibility of renewing regular operations in the area. “The mission noted a significant increase in the malnutrition rate since NGO’s (non-governmental organisations) had been forced to stop regular activities in the area for security reasons in March,” the report noted. In the central highlands province of Bie, temporary repairs kept the Kuito airstrip operational. The provincial government, according to OCHA, have said that long lasting repairs were planned during the dry season. OCHA added that IDPs continued to arrive in both Kuito and other towns in the province. The situation around Luena, capital of Moxico Province in the east, was reported to be “calm” but that the city was still inaccessible by road. It said that “widespread insecurity” was a feature elsewhere in the province. Latest IDP figures OCHA said that it estimated that were currently 2.6 million IDPs in Angola. It added that of these an estimated 39 percent were officially confirmed as IDPs by the government, UN agencies or other humanitarian organisations. “The number of displaced persons has grown steadily from approximately 530,000 in November 1998 to the current figure since the resumption of hostilities in December 1998,” OCHA added. The largest concentrations of IDPs were in Luanda, Bie, Huambo and Malanje provinces. It added that an estimated 20 percent of the reported national total were in Luanda Province, with a large presence in the capital city. Mine casualties OCHA said that between the mid-1998 and January 2000, more than 1,000 people had fallen victim to landmines and other unexploded ordnance (UXOs). “According to a recent report of the UN Support to the Angolan Mine Action Programme (UNDP/UNOPS), of these 24 percent were children, 25 percent women and 51 percent men,” OCHA said. Food aid OCHA said that on average 17,000 mt of food was transported monthly by the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) to 15 central distribution centres around the country. In addition between 1-7 May 6,500 mt of commodities were donated by the United States government to WFP to use as “emergency” food in Angola. “This shipment is part of a planned donation of 50,000 mt of food from the US to the Agency’s operation in Angola this year.”