USAID/OTI Angola Field Report
November 2003
Program Description
The OTI program in Angola was initiated in February 2003 to support the renewed opportunity for a lasting peace and increased democracy following the end of 40 years of violent conflict. OTI is providing support in three areas: strengthening civil society advocacy capacity; strengthening media; and increasing local-level engagement between citizens and authorities in order to address community problems. OTI's implementing partner is Creative Associates and the FY 2004 budget is approximately $3.8 million.
Country Situation
On November 28, the Angolan Council of Ministers approved a second draft land law intended to establish the base for a new national land administration policy. Government media have reported that the new law incorporates the significant level of input from civil society organizations gathered during an earlier public consultation period. However, the new law has not yet been made publicly available for review. The law will be submitted to the National Assembly for review and approval, with an additional opportunity expected to be announced for civil society review and consultation before it is ratified.
The second draft land law was preceded by a report by Amnesty International on three mass forced evictions that occurred in Luanda between 2001 and 2003. The report alleges that during these evictions over 5,000 people were removed by police at gunpoint from their homes. Because formal systems for registering land and housing collapsed during the decade-long civil war, many occupants of both rural land and urban housing lack documents to support their claims of ownership of their homes, and are therefore vulnerable to eviction. This problem has been highlighted by civil society organizations in recent advocacy work on the draft land law. OTI/Angola is currently programming $300,000 in Economic Support Funds to advance land reform efforts in Benguela, Huila and Huambo provinces.
Also on November 28, the Angolan government announced a national strategic plan to combat HIV/AIDS over the next five years. Through a collaborative effort between the government and the United Nations, the plan focuses on improving institutional capacity, prevention, and support to people already infected with the virus. Angola is currently believed to have a relatively low prevalence of HIV/AIDS, but experts fear that without extensive preventative action, increased population movements may fuel an explosion of the disease over the next three to four years. The large numbers of returning refugees and internally displaced persons who already face marginalization from their communities are considered to be especially vulnerable to the disease.
The United Nations has launched an appeal of $263 million to assist Angola in 2004. Since the end of the 27-year civil war, Angola's humanitarian needs have remained acute. This month the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that approximately 250,000 Angolan refugees are hindered from returning to their homes by landmines, poor governance and a devastated infrastructure; and the World Food Programme (WFP) experienced shortfalls in its cereal supply that required the organization to reduce the rations of some refugees in Uige, Zaire, Moxico and Kuando Kubango provinces. The WFP was also obliged in November to reduce its passenger transport services, which are used by more than 200 humanitarian agencies and U.S. government employees for transport to remote areas of Angola, due to a shortage of funds. The international donor community has shown increased reluctance to invest development funding in Angola, due to alleged government mismanagement of billions of dollars of income from the country's oil and diamond resources. Last year's UN appeal for $313.8 million was only 52 percent funded, and there is concern that this year's appeal may again be overshadowed by other international crises.
Earlier in November, the Commission for Human Rights, an ad-hoc group of Angolan activists, released a report entitled "A Year of Pain," which claims that human rights abuses are occurring in the oil-rich northern enclave of Cabinda. The report contains 30 pages of testimony of alleged abuses, primarily by the Angolan army, including summary killings, rape, and torture. The government of Angola has denied all claims of rights abuses in Cabinda, maintaining that all military actions have been directed against rebel Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave (FLEC) members. The incidents detailed in the report have not been independently verified, but the allegations have renewed international and regional media interest in the ongoing Cabinda conflict.
OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
During the month of November, OTI continued to develop new grants and implement existing activities. Staff traveled to Benguela, Huila and Huambo provinces to meet with grantees, develop new grants and monitor existing activities. Highlights of OTI grant activities in November included:
- 16 theatre performances and 183 civic education sessions conducted by the NGO Bismas das Acacias, which is working to build awareness and capacity among women working in the informal market sector in Benguela province. Project participants in four communities have now formed local committees to interface with their local authorities.
- Four community meetings and eight workshops organized by the Benguela NGO Okutiuka, in which more than 600 rural community members discussed local-level strategies for reconciliation and reintegration of ex-combatants.
- Five school projects were completed by the Association to Support Community Development (AADC), an NGO in Benguela province. The projects have brought citizens and local authorities together to establish mechanisms to maintain the schools.
- Five community debates were held in the Cazenga neighborhood in Luanda, in which more than 400 local authorities and community members participated. One local administrator who participated affirmed that "we need more and more to work with our communities because this is the best way to govern."
- A Benguela-based NGO coalition held two workshops for teachers, four meetings with parents committees and two radio debates as part of a broad-based advocacy campaign for free public education.
- The NGO OFDP (Organization for the Strengthening and Development of Populations) provided training on association-building and technical assistance as part of a seeds and tools distribution activity benefiting over 600 families in three rural Benguela communities.
- The NGO Caritas held three workshops in Huambo, Benguela and Huila provinces to train 75 activists (25 per province) who will be working on participatory grassroots-level peace building and reconciliation activities. A local official from the Bailundo municipality in Huambo said, "This challenge is felt by everyone and the authorities must assume it, helping to sensitize people and with them contribute to peace and reconciliation."
- · The NGO Free Hands (Maos Livres) in Benguela held 12 debates in seven municipalities on human rights and land rights, in which more than 5,400 community members and local authorities participated.
- Four debates were aired on Radio Ecclesia, generating call-ins from 120 listeners.
- The NGO National Counseling Center sponsored a theatrical performance on human rights that was attended by 200 people; hosted five community meetings, each attended by 100 people, for community members and members of the Human Rights commission of the National Assembly; and held an advocacy seminar in the municipality of Viana, one of Luanda's larger surrounding communities. NCC also held three community workshops to promote awareness and understanding by citizens of recently-established human rights protection centers.
- The Huambo Coalition, a Huambo-based NGO association, facilitated the creation of three farmers associations as part of a seeds and tools distribution activity.
Three new OTI grants were approved in November:
- Association for Youth and Solidarity (AJS): OTI will support this Benguela-based NGO to produce radio programs and media supplements directed at increasing citizen participation in key issues affecting their lives. The grantee will also prepare a publication summarizing listener comments, questions and feedback collected during the radio programs, which are expected to reach up to three million listeners.
- ACORD: OTI will support this NGO based in Huila province to hold bi-monthly round table discussions bringing together civil society and government actors to discuss key topics such as land reform, community development, reintegration and reconciliation.
- Free Hands (Maos Livres): OTI will support the Huambo office of this legal rights NGO to conduct a series of workshops and trainings on land rights and grassroots land advocacy in five communities in Huambo province.
In November, OTI staff visited Huambo province, concluding a series of assessment visits to the three provinces where OTI will provide intensive support for provincial-level land advocacy efforts. An action plan for targeted local-level land reform activities has been drafted and activities are expected to begin in early 2004.
B. Grants Activity Summary
| Media Strengthening |
$0 |
$106,950 |
0 |
4 |
| Civil Society Advocacy Capacity |
$ 128,123 |
$592,766 |
3 |
15 |
| Citizen Engagement with Local
Authorities |
$0 |
$ 493,344 |
0 |
10 |
| TOTAL (Nov 2003) |
$128,123 |
$1,193,060 |
3 |
29 |
NEXT STEPS/IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
OTI will continue to travel to the field to monitor activities
and develop new grants during December. OTI staff will also continue to focus on exploring possibilities to link OTI activities to other USAID-funded humanitarian and developmental relief activities, particularly in Bie, Huila, Huambo, and Benguela provinces.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington: Angela Martin at 202-712-5434, amartin@usaid.gov
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