SECRETARY-GENERAL APPEALS FOR $228.4 MILLION FOR URGENT ASSISTANCE TO ANGOLA
Press Release
IHA/625
SECRETARY-GENERAL APPEALS FOR $228.4 MILLION FOR URGENT ASSISTANCE TO ANGOLA
19970325 NEW YORK, 25 March (Department of Humanitarian Affairs) -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched the United Nations Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for Angola today in Luanda, calling upon the international community to continue to contribute generously throughout 1997 to help support efforts to consolidate peace in Angola, following nearly two decades of conflict.The Appeal, which requires $228.4 million in contributions, is designed to meet the still extensive humanitarian needs in Angola and to provide a framework for the transition to national rehabilitation and reconstruction. Since the signing of the Lusaka Protocol by the Government of Angola and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) in November 1994, the country has embarked on a difficult path towards national reconciliation and lasting peace. While much has been achieved since then, the return to civilian life of former combatants has yet to be attained.
The Appeal, which is the product of a collaborative effort among United Nations system organizations, international organizations, government authorities and non-governmental organizations, aims to meet the humanitarian needs of over 1 million internally displaced persons and more than 300,000 Angolan refugees, among a total war-affected population of more than 3 million.
An estimated 100,000 former combatants and their 340,000 family members will also require humanitarian assistance until such time as the demobilization process is completed. Assistance will be provided in such areas as demobilization and reintegration, food aid and nutritional support, agricultural services, health services, water and sanitation, education, demining and mine awareness activities, and other bridging activities from relief to rehabilitation and reconstruction. Once the beneficiaries reach the communities in which they will resettle, assistance will encompass rehabilitation programmes, promoting the economic and social viability of the community as a whole.
The Appeal covers programmes of the World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Volunteers, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO) and the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, as well as of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Handicap International.
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