FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

• Favourable rains recorded at the start of the 2012/13 cropping season in the large cereal producing regions

• Agricultural output declines sharply in 2012, following a prolonged dry spell

• Poor food security conditions persist in the affected areas

Over 4-million children under the age of 5 will be vaccinated in an immunization campaign launched today by the Angolan government, backed by the United Nations, in 9 of the nation’s 18 provinces.

The nation was proclaimed “free from polio” after no cases were reported for a year. The UNICEF (UN Child’s Fund) in a statement stressed that the new immunization campaign aims to consolidate the “success” of a previous drive to curb a polio outbreak.

In September 2012, UNICEF released the 2012 Progress Report on Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed. The report shows that the number of children dying before the age of 5 has drastically declined over the past two decades.

Click here for more information on A Promise Renewed.

By Luca Solimeo

High-level women decision makers recently came together in the National Assembly of Angola to endorse the “Harare Call to Action” and discuss how the country will address HIV and gender-based violence. They engaged on issues related to domestic and sexual violence and the inclusion of women in decisions concerning their families, economic development, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.

By Suzanne Beukes

UIGE, Angola, 8 August 2012 – In the north-eastern town of Uige, 26-year-old Ricardo Monteiro makes his way to work in his three-wheeled chair. Ricardo has polio, which his says he contracted when the family lived on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo during the civil war in Angola.

On 22 July, experts will gather in Washington, D.C., for the International AIDS Society’s biennial conference on rolling back the HIV and AIDS epidemic. UNICEF will host a leadership forum stressing the need for innovation in eliminating new HIV infections in children. This story is part of a series illustrating UNICEF's efforts on behalf of children and women affected by HIV.

By Olívio Gambo

LUANDA, Angola, 17 July 2012 – The smile is visible on the face of Rosa Pedro, a 42-year-old HIV activist working to improve access to health services for people living with HIV.

06/26/2012 03:04 GMT

by Estelle Maussion

NAMACUNDE, Angola, June 26, 2012 (AFP) - Thousands of Angolan refugees are trekking home hoping for a new start in life a decade after the end of brutal wars that drove them to neighbouring countries.

On June 30 their refugee status expires so many are returning to Angola, but they face an uncertain future in a country plagued by poverty despite its booming oil-rich economy.

DETAILS OF THE EMERGENCY:

Due to the civil war a considerable number of Angolans fled to neighboring countries like DRC and Zambia looking for safety. Some of them left the country in 1961 at the time of the war of liberation from Portuguese colonization and stayed across borders for more than 40 years.

The Angolan authorities and UNHCR estimate that there are more than 114 000 Angolan refugees still living in neighboring countries who are likely to return when the necessary conditions are created.

Story by Mathias Haufiku

KAILA - A group of 141 Angolan refugees that resided at the sprawling Osire refugee camp in the Otjozondjupa Region were yesterday handed over to the Angolan government as part of the tripartite voluntary repatriation.

The group consisted mainly of women and children.