Luanda, 12/28 - The humanitarian
situation in Angola has substantially improved in 2005, despite estimates
of 700,000 people needing assistance, resulting from hard road access to
some localities of the country. This was announced Wednesday in Luanda
by the Social Welfare minister, Jo=E3o Baptista Kussumua, while addressing
a ceremony of yearend compliments.
He assessed the work done by his sector
in 2005 in the various fields (demining, reintegration of ex-soldiers,
voluntary and organised repatriation of refugees, assistance to elderly
people, to physically disabled persons, children and teenagers) and mentioned
Government action in the fight of poverty.
Minister Kussumua emphasized that under the Programme of Social Assistance to people living in poverty, the Government has intervened with about 5,000 metric tons of eatable and non-eatable stuff, reaching more than 350,000 people in the country.
As to demining, the source said, of the 4,550 minefields identified, 1,720 have been cleared, corresponding to 38 percent, whereas 2,830 are still awaiting demining, corresponding to 62 percent.
He said that 97,138 soldiers that belonged to the ranks of the ex-rebel UNITA movement have been licensed, under the process of social reintegration of former militaries, in the light of the Luena Memorandum of Understanding signed on 4 April 2002.
For the social reintegration of the said mass of people, 72 projects were approved and are currently in progress, of which 50 are being implemented and 22 in a phase of processing for implementation of partnerships. The said projects will benefit 59,243 people in 15 provinces of the country.
In 2005, the first projects of the General Demobilisation and reintegration Programme (PGDR) were started, specifically directed to vulnerable groups, especially children related to the ex-soldiers, women militaries and widows of ex-soldiers.
Alongside the PGDR, the minister said, the Government approved and launched the sub-programme of reintegration of ex-soldiers of the former Government Armed Forces (FAPLA) under the historic Bicesse and Lusaka peace processes, and included ex-soldiers of the ex-ELNA that pertained to the opposition FNLA party of veteran Holden Roberto.
During the same period, and under the Refugees Volunteer and Organised Repatriation Programme, 28,164 Angolan citizens were repatriated. 14, 694 by air and 13,470 by road. 23,740 returned on their own from RDC, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Congo, Zimbabwe and South Africa.