Angola
Angolan President assured of further humanitarian aid

afrol News, 31 January  - President Jose Eduardo dos Santos yesterday was assured of continuing humanitarian aid from the international community at a meeting today. Some 1.7 million Angolans today depend on foreign aid, a number expected to increase to 2.4 million as resettlements of internally displaced people go ahead.

President dos Santos today met with James T. Morris, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP). Mr Morris arrived yesterday, for a three-day visit to Angola. The two leaders were discussing humanitarian aid-related matters, especially the problems of drought, AIDS and food distribution for the country's many internally displaced.

After meeting with President dos Santos, Mr Morris said his agency would continue to assist Angola, but that WFP still was in need of more donations to assure continuity in its work. He reiterated that the UN intended to establish a partnership relation between international donors and the Angolan government to fight the humanitarian crisis in the country.

Mr Morris is also to meet several Angolan cabinet ministers, as well as representatives from donor nations, other humanitarian agencies and the private sector. The WFP leader also was to visit the central Province of Bié, where food distributions for around 80,000 displaced people and returnees are currently underway, the UN agency reported today.

WFP is currently feeding 1.7 million people, although this figure was "set to rise substantially in the first few months of the year as many people are resettling in areas without the resources or conditions to meet basic food and health needs," the agency said. WFP was estimating that "up to 2.4 million people may need food aid over the coming months."

Many of those in need were living in isolated communities, cut off from conventional forms of transport due to land mines, huge distances and poor roads. "This makes the delivery of food aid a major challenge," WFP said today.

In July 2002, the UN agency had appealed to the international community for US$ 241 million to fund its feeding programmes in Angola until the end of 2003. Although two large contributions were confirmed during the week, amounting to US$ 27.3 million, more than half of the appeal still remains un-funded.

- This lack of resources is threatening WFP's capacity to meet the needs of the increasing number of vulnerable people across Angola, the agency warned." There are also serious funding shortfalls to WFP's logistics Special Operations that provide a vital logistical lifeline to most of the humanitarian community."

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