The United Nations said today it was dispatching
a high-level mission to Angola to review collaboration among various UN
agencies in a country beset with complex problems related to the protection
and humanitarian needs of some 1.7 million internally displaced persons
(IDPs).
The weeklong mission, which is scheduled
to arrive in Angola on Saturday, will undertake "a comprehensive assessment
of existing coordination arrangements," according to a statement by
the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The
mission is led by Carolyn McAskie, the acting UN Emergency Relief Coordinator,
and includes officials from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund.
"The timing of the mission is particularly germane in light of current discussions on assistance to and protection of IDPs," the OCHA statement said.
With the bulk of IDPs staying in provincial capitals, the team would visit Huambo and Kuito and meet representatives of locally-based UN agencies and NGOs, as well donors and government leaders.
After completing the assessment, Ms. McAskie will report the mission's findings to an inter-agency panel in Geneva.