PRESS CONFERENCE BY ANGOLA SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE

PRESS CONFERENCE BY ANGOLA SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE

Ibrahim Gambari, newly-appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Angola and head of the recently established United Nations Mission in Angola (UNMA), told correspondents at a Headquarters briefing today that the Angolan peace process had reached a very critical stage.  The ceasefire was holding, he said, there was now a single national army and both the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA)and the Government had been cooperating in implementing the various aspects of the Lusaka peace agreement, in particular the Joint Commission, which was re-established on 26 August and which the United Nations would chair.

Mr. Gambari said he would be leaving New York this afternoon for the Angolan capital Luanda -- his fifth trip to the country in the past year -- to take up the new challenges, including chairing the Joint Commission that would now bring the war formally to a conclusion.  The parties had established a 45-day time frame for the completion of the final implementation of the Lusaka Protocol.  Of course there were other issues and challenges, including the humanitarian situation, which was “still very critical”.  More than a third of the internally displaced persons, which were estimated at about 30 per cent of the population, required emergency humanitarian assistance. 

He added that the consolidated inter-agency appeal was re-launched last week and an additional $171 million was being requested to take the international humanitarian community and the United Nations agencies up to the end of the year.

Responding to a correspondent’s question, Mr. Gambari said the Angolan Government put particular emphasis on the convening of an international donor conference, because it realized that even with the best of efforts on its part, the country would need substantial assistance from the international community, not only for immediate humanitarian needs, but for mid-term and long-term economic reconstruction and recovery.  He said Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos had specifically asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan for help in organizing that conference, and the Secretary-General had agreed to do so. 

The exact time had not yet been fixed, but it was hoped it could happen before the end of the year, he said.  At the same time, it must be properly organized, because there was no point in having an international donors conference "for the sake of it”.  Substantial resources were needed to transform Angola from a war economy to a peace-time economy and to facilitate economic recovery.

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