Six years after the end of the 27-year civil war, gradual progress towards a peaceful environment has been made in Angola , including the return of millions of refugees and internally displaced people. However, the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the country's extensively-destroyed physical, social and economic infrastructure remains a national challenge.
Despite the efforts being made, it will take many years before recovery activities can come to an end. Angola ranks 162 out of 177 countries in the 2007 Human Development Index with 28 percent of its population living in extreme poverty and another 40 percent struggling to survive below the poverty line. Many communities have little or no access to basic social services, while less than 50 percent of children enrolled in school.
The country also has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world at 260 per 1,000 live births. Though the HIV prevalence rate is considerably lower than elsewhere in the region, it is estimated to be about 3.7 percent and growing. Despite ongoing road and railway rehabilitation, logistical constraints persist, such as damaged roads and bridges, limited functioning of railways and the presence of landmines.
These infrastructural challenges continue to obstruct the free movement of goods and people and impede socio-economic recovery. Agricultural production is gradually improving in parallel with road infrastructure rehabilitation. However, it is still going to be a long-term process for Angola to achieve its pre-independence levels of production. Meanwhile, many people remain extremely vulnerable and trapped in a cycle of poverty and malnutrition.
After providing vital food aid to the people of Angola for 30 years, throughout the civil war, WFP is now adapting its operations in Angola . Donors believe that the government should be putting more of its own financial resources (from its oil, gas and mineral revenues) towards social services and this has led to a serious funding problem for WFP.
WFP remains committed to helping the government support the country's most vulnerable people but the agency is shifting from predominantly food assistance to capacity development. In 2008, the remaining food assistance activities will support a reduced school feeding programme and increased attention to health sector activities including mother and child health (MCH) programmes, therapeutic and supplementary feeding.
Priority will be given to MCH and nutrition programmes in the central highlands, the most food insecure area. Key areas under discussion with the government in relation to capacity development include assisting with the design of a national school feeding programme, helping to review the country’s food and nutrition policy and encouraging the government to adopt food fortification standards using WFP’s experience and expertise. Due to funding constraints, WFP’s presence is currently limited to the country office in Luanda and a field office in Kuito
WFP is adapting its assistance from humanitarian activities to longer-term programmes following signature in 2002 of a memorandum of understanding between the Government and the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) after 27 years of war.
This protracted relief and recovery operation, which builds on the livelihood activities introduced in the preceding operation 10054.2, will assist food-insecure populations still recovering from the war, focusing primarily in the Planalto Central and peri-urban Luanda.
