In Angola’s new era of sustainable development, efforts are focused on healing the scars of war within a climate of commitment to the people
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| Ana Paula dos Santos is a major campaigner for the rights of women and disadvantaged people in Angolan society |
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n 2002, with the signing of the Luena peace accord, Angola entered a period of transition between the initial demands of a state of emergency to those related to the normal development of a nation. While the United Nations has said that urgent humanitarian needs have been progressively met in the country, new challenges have arisen regarding the reintegration of displaced persons, the reconstruction of infrastructure, and the creation of jobs. Access to basic services in the country remains low. Large urban slums around Angola’s major cities, a result of mass migration from conflict areas during the war, have put considerable pressure on the provision of water, electricity and housing, and have contributed to high unemployment. The breakdown of transport infrastructure is impeding the movement of both peoples and goods, while millions of landmines are still placed randomly throughout the country’s rural areas. The country also has severe infant and maternal mortality rates, high poverty levels, low school attendance among children, weak health services, and significant gender inequality. Further compounding these problems is the absence of a strong state administration infrastructure.
However, the government is making progress on its interim poverty reduction strategy that was elaborated for its immediate post-conflict period from 2003-2006, and which includes resettlement of displaced persons, de-mining and disarmament, re-launching of rural economies, creating a stable macroeconomic climate and consolidating a lawful environment, as well as the rehabilitation of basic infrastructures. A mine-clearance programme was passed in March of this year that gives priority to resettlement areas, thus ensuring a more rapid delivery of emergency aid programmes where they are most urgently needed. Additionally, an HIV awareness programme has been implemented in order to avoid a rise in the country’s 5.5% rate – a comparably low rate regionally, and one of the few positive outcomes of the country’s protracted war.
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There is also cooperation from non-governmental sectors in the country. Angolan First Lady Ana Paula dos Santos has been actively involved in humanitarian issues since the 2002 peace treaty. Especially concerned with improving the plight of Angola’s women and of its landmine victims, First Lady dos Santos has led campaigns abroad to increase international awareness and has spearheaded the creation of important organisations at home. President of the National Committee for the Promotion of Rural Women (COMUR) and of the Lwini Fund for Social Solidarity, the First Lady has targeted Angola’s women as being at the heart of the country’s development and also an essential element in improving the quality of life for Angolan children. She comments, “It is true what someone once said: Teach a man and you teach an individual; teach a woman and you teach a nation. During the war in Angola, women became the head of the household; they worked, fed, clothed and solved problems. Women learn quickly and are used to sacrifices, and our programmes have one main objective – to teach them the importance of education and schooling in their lives.”
Another important Angolan organisation working to promote the rights of women is Assomel, founded in 1990 as an association of women in small business to promote women’s rights in the work world and to provide training. Its President Maria do Carmo Assis do Nascimento states, “We want to contribute in all sectors – to continue working in the private sector as we have been doing, but also to contribute more in education, social development, and the eradication of poverty.”
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Another unlikely source of aid in coming in the form of Angola’s diamonds. Historically known as blood diamonds for the role they played during the war, revenues the country’s vast mineral resource will now used to play an instrumental role in Angola’s social and economic reconstruction. President of the state-owned diamond enterprise, Endiama, Manuel Arnaldo de Sousa Calado, comments, “We are restructuring the diamond sector with the aim of increasing transparency and complying with international regulations so Angolan diamonds will now be thought of as ‘peace diamonds’. We want to create a brand for Angolan diamonds that will be recognised for their contribution to the reconstruction of the country; a sector that will foment, promote and encourage the socio-economic growth of Angola.”
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