Situation in Luau alarming.

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Angola on Friday expressed concern at humanitarian conditions in the municipality of Luau in the eastern Moxico province. In a statement to IRIN on Friday, Zoraida Mesa said the UN shared the concern of the Angolan government over the increase in mortality and morbidity rates in Luau, situated in the northeast of Moxico near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). “I wish to convey our serious distress at the humanitarian crisis and to confirm that we will support the government’s efforts in all possible ways within the constraints imposed by current security conditions,” Mesa said. She said the present volatile security situation limited the ability of the UN to intervene. She cited reports from the municipality relating a disturbing death toll mainly due to malnutrition, particularly among children. “Children are dying at the rate of seven to eight every day and three to four adults are dying every day,” Mesa said. She added that medicine, food and other supplies were urgently needed to halt the tragedy.