Levels of vulnerability remain highest in the world

Conditions had stabilised in virtually all areas of Angola where humanitarian agencies had sustained access but overall, levels of vulnerability remained some of the highest in the world, the mid-term review of the 2003 Consolidated Inter-agency Appeal (CAP) for Angola said. Agencies had plans in place to provide assistance to over four million people who would require some form of humanitarian help in the next six months. This included at least two million who would be "extremely vulnerable and dependent on international assistance to survive". The caseload included the poor, internally displaced persons, refugees, and former combatants and their families. Although the government would continue repairing infrastructure and support reintegration, the bulk of humanitarian assistance would come from the international community through the US $313.8 million UN CAP and the World Bank's reintegration programme. However, at present the CAP was only 31 percent funded for all the assistance and reconstruction programmes needed for the country. "This makes it more difficult to launch new programmes - assistance must be prioritised according to vulnerability assessments and it is difficult to expand to areas not reached before," Julie Thomspon, informaton officer for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told IRIN on Tuesday. One of the most pressing needs at the moment was to get seeds and inputs to returnees in time for the next planting season, Thompson said. The review noted that only 35 percent of the US $156 million funding required for food security had been received. If this sector was underfunded in the medium term, and populations were forced to remain dependent on assistance for more than two harvests, the recovery and transition period would be longer than expected. Unless funding was urgently received for seeds and tools, the majority of former combatants and their families would not receive agricultural inputs in time for the planting season, the review warned. As a result of underfunding in the health sector, agencies would battle to help authorities establish nutritional prevention and surveillance activities or train health workers. Already they were struggling to establish adequate water and sanitation services in virtually all resettlement sites, putting tens of thousands of people at risk of infectious diseases. Underfunding had also adversely affected programmes for the prevention and treatment of illnesses like malaria, tuberculosis and diarrhoea, while the expansion of HIV/AIDS outreach programmes had slowed, and the establishment of facilities for voluntary counselling and testing had been delayed, the review said. The reunification of about 100,000 children with their families was also suffering delays and birth registrations could not expand as planned. A lack of funds was delaying efforts to find safe spaces for schools, set up hygienic facilities and gather basic materials, as well as hampering basic literacy programmes. Underfunded cargo and passenger transport and demining organisations continued to impede delivery of humanitarian assistance and programmes aimed at promoting agricultural production, the review observed. Although the general security situation would remain stable, banditry might occur in some areas where populations were unable to establish food security. Crime levels were expected to increase in urban areas. If enough funds were secured for key programmes, agencies expected the acute emergency to be over by July. But, if these funds were not available, emergency conditions were likely to persist, the review emphasised.