23 August 1999 Humanitarian Aid for Angola Lacking (U.N. officials discuss funding, access problems) (950) By Judy Aita USIA United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- Senior U.N. officials gave the Security Council a grim assessment of the desperate humanitarian conditions in Angola during a private meeting on August 23. The officials said that decades of war in Angola have left children without the most basic guarantees of security, food, vaccines, and education; adults without food and shelter, and with few job prospects; and humanitarian agencies almost powerless to help. According to the officials, about 70 percent of Angola's population is living in besieged provincial capitals or government-held areas on the coast; 1.7 million are internally displaced; and those Angolans who have been helping others are now in need of help themselves because of job loss, soaring inflation, and lack of access to arable land. The council was briefed by Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Sergio Vieira de Mello, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy, and World Food Program Executive Director Catherine Bertini. The three are responsible for many of the aid programs in Angola. U.N. agencies and other non-governmental organizations have been trying to provide aid especially for the children, including deliveries of food, seeds, and tools, trauma and abuse counseling, basic health care, safe water and sanitation materials, materials for shelter, and education. "The rapidly deteriorating security situation may mean that yet another generation of Angolan children will face the new century as victims of a war. Indeed, there is every reason to fear that a human rights and humanitarian catastrophe is at hand," Bellamy said in prepared remarks which were released to journalists after the meeting. "Since the resumption of the war in December 1998, the situation has deteriorated rapidly," Bellamy said. "UNICEF's child risk measure ranks Angola today as the country whose children are at greatest risk of death, malnutrition, abuse, and development failure. Our analysis points to the conflict as the single greatest determinant of this sad reality." The UNICEF director also said that the outlook for Angola's children is bleak and "the prognosis for the remainder of this year points to a further worsening in prospects for child survival, development, and protection." "The present generation is growing largely illiterate and nutritionally stunted, with their physical and mental potential probably irreparably damaged," she said. "An entire new generation is also likely to start life with poor survival and development prospects, growing up in a culture of war and violence." Vieira de Mello pointed out the "shocking discrepancy" between the country's potential wealth and the actual state of the vast majority of Angolans. According to a variety of sources, Angola has the largest oil reserves in Africa. More than 2,250 million barrels of oil were found last year alone, nearly double the total for Nigeria. Angola also produced about $700 million in diamonds, about 10 percent of annual global production. "Potentially one of the richest countries in the Southern Hemisphere, it is now among the 15 poorest countries on earth," the undersecretary-general said. Of the two million people known to be in need, only 600,000 are receiving aid because of the lack of access and the lack of funding. In the past four months, six humanitarian aid workers have been killed. Shelling, ambushes, infantry attacks, and land mines also face workers trying to reach the needy. In addition, the U.N. appeal for $105.9 million to help 800,000 Angolans has raised only 54 percent of the requested amount. Vieira de Mello cited the country's mineral wealth and its continuing investment in war as factors in donors' decisions not to contribute to U.N. appeals for Angola. Two hundred people are dying every day in the country from malnutrition-related diseases as a consequence of the lack of money and access, he said. "With little respect for the safety of civilian populations or humanitarian staff, there is risk that should security conditions continue to deteriorate and civilians continue to be targeted, humanitarian agencies may be forced to suspend their programs and withdraw," Vieira de Mello warned. "We nearly came to this point approximately two and a half months ago. International humanitarian aid should not be taken for granted while war continues unabated," he said. The Angolan government has announced a $21 million plan for food aid, but Vieira de Mello said that the government should be encouraged to spend a larger share of its resources on humanitarian needs. Since Security Council calls to respect humanitarian law and allow unimpeded access for aid workers have gone largely unheeded, Vieira de Mello said that the council should also consider imposing penalties on the violators. Since 1992 there have been more than 40 Security Council resolutions on Angola. Yet during the same period countless persons have died; tens of thousands have been injured, maimed, and deprived of basic human dignity; and over more than two million have been forced to flee their homes. "We are at an impasse," Vieira de Mello told the council. "A more forceful attempt must be made to stop hostilities," he said. "Aren't there other measures that the council can adopt in order to bring this war to a halt and to ensure full compliance with its previous decisions?" Security Council President Martin Andjaba of Namibia said that council members are extremely concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation and the low level of donor response to humanitarian appeals for Angola. Andjaba said that the council is working on the wording of a statement to be read at a formal meeting. The U.N. officials and the 15 members of the Security Council also called on the Angolan government, and particularly the UNITA rebels, to allow humanitarian agencies access to those in need. Return to Washington File home page
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