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Emergency Aid in Angola/Guinea Bissau |
In 1999, the political and humanitarian situation in Guinea Bissau and Angola was especially serious and chaotic, and in March the Federation for Associations connected to the International HUMANA People to People Movement sends an application to the Foundation for 2,230,000 Dkr for an emergency aid program for app. 200,000 people in these two African countries. The amount was granted within the same week. Guinea Bissau How was the Situation in Guinea Bissau? PAIGC, the African Party for Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, which had lead the liberation war, came to power in 1974 under the leadership of Luis Cabral. PAIGC converted to a multiparty system in 1990, and won the democratic election in 1994. But from June 1998, the country is ravaged by internal violence after an attempted army coup against president Viera. Close to half of the population is driven from their homes, especially from the capital Bissau. Some escape to neighboring countries, and around 300,000 people must stay with friends and family in the rural areas, people who do not have means to help, but who share what little they have. In May 1999, the military junta has taken over, and the president must leave the country. Elections are announced in November 1999, and the situation thereafter becomes gradually better, so that the state apparatus, schools, and trade little by little start working again. But the disorganization and the destruction and the refugee problem are still overwhelming; the government is only paying out very small salaries and with great delays, and many work places have been lost. The cashew harvest does not bring the usual incomes, and the tension between the new government and the military still continues. After the war, 10,000 land mines still mark the old front lines around Bissau, and 6,000 houses in Bissau are destroyed. Thousands of civilians and soldiers have died in combat or from disease and debility. Apart from the political situation being chaotic and resulting in all these desperate conditions, the country was already tremendously poor and undeveloped. To top it all the majority of the foreigners left the country during the civil war, from private and public positions as well as from international aid organizations. ADPP in Guinea Bissau (Development Aid from People to People in Guinea Bissau), which is one of the member associations in Humana People to People, had been in the country and made a major effort on many areas throughout more than 20 years - and stayed on! - but had to suspend the majority of its activities, however, apart from the Vocational School and the Preschools in Bissora. Now the effort had to focus on relief aid. It is at this point in time Humana People to People sends its application to the Foundation for a grant to distribute 10,000 relief aid packages, partly to families who are trying to return to Bissau, and partly to families around Bissau, who have housed others and shared what they had with the refugees from the capital. In the reports are told that the clothes for the relief aid packages have been sent by different member organizations of Humana People to People in Europe. They were sent by ship to Dakar and Senegal, and transported over land to Bissau. In 1999 there were 2,091 packages distributed to 12,546 people. This was fewer packages than planned, because the circumstances were difficult: The transport between Dakar and Bissau was hampered because the border was often closed; there were negotiations with the government in Guinea Bissau about the payment of customs duty for the import of the clothes, and the shipping company in Dakar demanded a not agreed upon payment for storage of the clothes. Because the transport was so difficult, seven tons of used clothes which already was in Guinea Bissau before the war was included in the relief aid and distributed. Dag Rune Hauglund, director for ADPP in Guinea Bissau: Cumure had been a strategic point during the war, with heavy artillery to protect Bissau. As a result, Cumure itself had been heavily attacked, and many soldiers had been killed. Land mines and the burnt down houses still reminded of what had taken place. The population had been forced to flee many times. They had lost all their animals and their property. It was decided to distribute emergency aid packages to everybody, in cooperation with the local authorities. The distribution became a day of celebration. It turned out that thirty six houses had been burnt down. There was a plan made for how many working days were needed to build up all the houses again. They could be build with local materials and grass roofs. The World Food Program (WFP) agreed to give 'food for work' to all the workers in the construction period, and ADPP organized the distribution. Each house owner was given a large portion of food stuffs, and before Christmas all the houses were reconstructed again by the joint effort of the village." In 2000, 1,112 relief aid packages were distributed. In total at least 25,000 people have directly benefited from the relief aid packages and the used clothes. Now 300,000 Dkr had been used, that means about half of the money. Other Reports Explain the Rest of the Progress ADPP now found it more important to use the rest of the grant on other relief aid and rehabilitation programs which would support the effects of the distribution of relief aid packages. The effort was directed towards the hardest hit areas - Bissau and the Oio region - where ADPP already had a good cooperation with many partners. The idea was to assist the local authorities in their difficult situation right after the war. There would be help to self help for increased agricultural production, better hygiene, education, and health. The help would be directed towards people who had been seriously hit by the war, including refugees who were returning home, and the local forces would be involved so that training in self-organizing and cooperation with the local authorities would take place. These relief and rehabilitation programs were organized via three ADPP projects: the ADPP Child Aid in Bissora, the ADPP Vocational School, and the ADPP Cashew Plantation in the northern region. Here is a brief overview of the activities:
Thus the remaining 323,000 Dkr were used. Some of the activities were furthermore financed by other sources: the German embassy in Dakar, the 'Fundo de Contrapartida' [Customs Fund] of the Ministry of Finance in Guinea Bissau, LVIA, SWISSAID, UNDP, FAO, WFP, WHO, and PROCOFAS. The programs were presented for and approved by the government and were carried out in close contact with the regional and local authorities. ADPP was at the same time a member of the UN coordinating committee for relief aid programs, and participated in monthly and extraordinary meetings with the UN. ADPP furthermore participated in the monthly NGO-meetings at the Dutch embassy. Dag Rune Hauglund again: The construction was started in 1997, and ADPP was requested to help find the financing for it. At the start of the war in June 1998 the construction stopped, half finished. ADPP and the organization "Friends of Bissora" managed to get various partners to contribute with money and materials, and seventeen volunteers and employees finished the construction of the ward. They received emergency aid packages, and that helped the working spirit. Financing from the Foundation contributed towards the salaries of the people employed. Other contributors were SIDA, LVIA from Italy, and the Ministry of Finance in Guinea Bissau." The reports tell that especially many results were achieved compared to the expenses, since ADPP already before had a staff and organisatorical experiences at their disposal. The relief aid and rehabilitation programs were carried out in connection with the distribution of the relief aid packages, and thereby achieved an increased effect. The whole relief aid project benefited at least 60,000 people, and was a determining factor in the first few difficult months after the war had ended. At that point there was not much other help to get, as most of the foreigners had left the country. (In passing it can also be mentioned that ADPP had many other activities going on at the same time within the frame work of relief aid and rehabilitation programs. Even though these were outside the grants from the Foundation, they deserve to be mentioned since they demonstrate the value of an integrated multifaceted effort, at the same time as it says something about the work of ADPP: ADPP distributed more than 2,000 tons of food for the WFP (The World Food Program) and The National Emergency Committee. ADPP also helped at hospitals, repaired and constructed 450 wells and latrines, made information campaigns and clean up actions, transported tens of thousands of refugees, moved 1,600 tons of garbage out of the city in a 6 month cleaning program in cooperation with the City Council, and during the war organized the first national meeting regarding medicine distribution. ADPP distributed seed grain and tools in the rainy season all over the country, and thousands of farmers in 40 local groups were helped with improving their rice fields. And the first country wide meeting for public officials and NGO's during the war was held at the ADPP Center.) Conclusion of the Relief Aid Project in Guinea Bissau One must take ones hat off for a versatile, thorough and enormously important piece of relief aid work, which was carried out under chaotic conditions of civil war, where most of the other foreigners and foreign organizations had left the country. The project "Emergency Aid Program in Guinea Bissau and Angola" directly benefited approximately 5% of the whole country's population materially, and have furthermore many inspiring and stabilizing effects of social and political nature on the whole society, which needed to be normalized after the war. Angola How was the Situation in Angola? From the time the first Portuguese disembarked at the mouth of the Congo River in 1482 and until 1820, many millions of slaves were shipped from Angola, and this is the direct reason for the spread demographic structure which still marks the country. The Portuguese colonial economy was based on extracting the country's rich natural resources like diamonds and coffee, where the whole profit landed in the pockets of the Portuguese. Angola is actually one of the world's richest countries in natural resources, including fertile land, oil, and minerals. 100 years of smoldering tendencies for rebellion among the few "Assimiliados" - educated Angolans - resulted in 1956 in the creation of MPLA, The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola, under the leadership of the medical student Agostinho Neto and the poet Mario de Andrade. In 1961 the armed struggle against colonialism began, after the violent politics of the Portuguese with extensive massacres of the civilian population had crushed every hope for a peaceful way to independence. MPLA did not only want to fight against colonialism, but against the international system which kept it alive, as well as against racism and tribalism. MPLA had to ally itself with the socialist countries. Also other liberation movements were formed in the 1960's, FNLA (The Angolan National Liberation Front), which received direct support from the United States' intelligence service and military support from Zaire, and UNITA (The Union for Total Independence of Angola), which was supported by the racist regime in South Africa and by the colonialists. In 1974 the military in Portugal lost all hopes of a military victory, and MPLA, FNLA, and UNITA were invited together with Portugal to participate in a transitional government until independence, but were far too disagreeing to enter into an agreement. In 1975, MPLA proclaimed The People's Republic of Angola in Luanda with Agostinho Neto as president, while FNLA/UNITA created another government in Huambo. During spring 1976, MPLA took control over most of the country, and the United Nations recognized the MPLA government as the country's legitimate government. The country was now in a serious situation. Fourteen years of guerilla warfare and civil war had destroyed all infrastructure, and the Portuguese had taken technical equipment and means of transport with them out of the country, and had, furthermore, sabotaged the industry. Plantations and villages were burnt. Only a handful of Angolans had a higher education, and illiteracy was almost total. In this difficult situation, the Angolan government began its reconstruction: roads were repaired, the health system was restructured, free schooling was introduced for everyone, and a number of banks, plantations, and industries were nationalized. As if it the material difficulties were not severe enough, there were constant political intrigues, supported by foreign powers like South Africa and Zaire. In 1979 Agostinho Neto dies and José Eduardo dos Santos becomes the president, and he still is. After having supported UNITA's terror in southern Angola for many years, South Africa itself enters directly into the military struggle in 1981 in order to create a "liberated zone" for an alternative UNITA government, but their plans are crushed by Cuban military support for MPLA, by the international pressure, and the antiapartheid movement in South Africa. In 1988 the conflict between Luanda and Pretoria ends, and both the South African and the Cuban troops are pulled out of Angola. With mediators from the United States, Portugal, and the Soviet Union, as well as the United Nations, the Angolan government and UNITA signed a peace agreement in 1991 - after yet another 16 years of civil war. There was going to be elections in 1992; FNLA's Holden Roberto and UNITA's Jonas Savimbi came to Luanda to run election campaigns. New political parties showed up and entered into agreements with either UNITA or MPLA, and the polarization grew until the elections. MPLA won the elections, but UNITA's Jonas Savimbi refused to accept his defeat and ordered the fighting to resume. UNITA occupied the diamond mines and thereby severed an important source of income for the government. The rest of the 90's and until today was, and is, a chaos of new peace agreements and continued civil war. Even if the UN and even Washington - Savimbi's old ally - have put pressure on him to keep the peace agreements and discontinue the attacks, the terror continue. The last internationally known act of war is UNITA's attack on Caxito in May 2001, where 79 people were killed, and 60 children and two teachers from the ADPP Children's town were kidnapped. The children have been returned, partly due to strong international protests, but many other women and children were also taken - as it is often called in the press: "UNITA took along with them population and cattle" - and then it is "forgotten". 4,500,000 people have been dislocated by the civil war since 1994, and only 300,000 of them have been relocated. There are land mines spread all over Angola, and the country has the highest number of invalids of any country in the world. Diseases, which were eradicated, have returned, and there is a lack of water. Briefly stated, this large, resource rich country has since the arrival of the Portuguese stood at the disposal for all kinds of international vested interests and has therefore been made into a battle field for these, with the Angolan people as victims. Four fifths did not come under any colonial administration, but have been totally subjected to the chaotic circumstances which the existing belligerent combatants have created in the wake of their struggle for the riches of Angola. It is in the context of this situation that Humana People to People sends its application to the Foundation. In the application it is told that Jonas Savimbi's part of UNITA again has built their arms up since 1997, and that UNITA has seriously returned to arms despite the fact that the UN has been present in the country with peace keeping troops. Since December 1998 there have been acts of war in the provinces of Bié, Bengo, Huambo, Malanje, Zaire, and towards the east in the areas near Congo and Zaire. App. 1,200,000 people have recently fled from the rural areas to the provincial capitals and to Luanda. The economy is in a deep crisis, the oil prices on the world market have halved (Angola also has oil!), and the defense of the country swallows a lot of money. ADPP em Angola (Development Aid from People to People in Angola), another of the Humana People to People member associations, has worked in Angola since 1985, and was in 1999 running a long line of projects. ADPP was in the process of expanding their effort within relief aid. In the province of Huambo, where there are app. 300,000 dislocated refugees, ADPP builds latrines and wells in cooperation with UNICEF and Development Workshop (Canada), distributes 130 tons of clothes in cooperation with the oil company Conoco, the Ministry of Social Affairs, The Institute for the Reintegration of Demobilized Soldiers, and WFP, as well as helps with the establishment of refugee camps and distribution of food aid. In addition, all the ADPP projects in Angola made a special effort as support for the refugees. It took place under the headline "Take good care of your neighbor!" Everywhere where the projects are there are thousands of new refugees arriving and settling down. On this background, Humana People to People applied to the Foundation for a grant to distribute 23,000 relief aid packages in Huambo, Luanda, Cuando Cubango and Kuito in the course of 20 weeks, from April 15 until September 15, 1999. ADPP was to be responsible themselves for the transport of the packages from Luanda and out to the different provinces. The amount for the actual packages would be 1,435,000 Dkr. There was also applied for six tons of soya protein flour for the distribution from the kitchens of the refugee camps to malnourished children. This would be able to provide 1,500 children with the necessary amount of protein in their food for three months. The amount for the soya protein would be 172,000 Dkr. As we saw, this application was granted a few days later in March, 1999. In January 2000, the Foundation receives the final report with a description of five distribution actions: In the Cuando Cubango Province there are approximately 55,000 refugees, either in camps or in self made villages in secure areas. In June 3,029 relief aid packages were distributed to families in the villages of Longa, Caiundo, Quelei, Ndumbu, Chipombo and Cuchi. The packages were transported to Menongue by the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the local authorities selected the families and distributed the packages. The project leader Anne Marie Møller from ADPP and solidarity worker Leonardo Moller were in Quelei: "The town council received us and thanked us for the clothes. They told about their difficulties and asked for more help for the refugee families who were driven from their villages and land. It was clear that a lot had to be done." Also in June 1,021 relief aid packages were distributed in Viana II, outside Luanda, where more than a thousand families from Malanje, Huambo, and Bié had settled down in disparate conditions. Here it was winter, with temperatures down to 4°C at night. Two solidarity workers, Leonardo and Rudi, stood for the distribution together with the camp leadership and a representative from the Ministry of Social Affairs. In the province of Bié, most of the app. 72,000 refugees are concentrated in Kuito, which was almost destroyed in the years 1992-94 in the war between the government troops and UNITA rebels. Thousands of people died of starvation and diseases in the besieged city, to which no aid could reach. In 1998 there were again intense fighting, and people had to flee. In August 1999, CARE International distributed in 5,305 relief aid packages to families from Chicala, Trumba, Kambamdua and Ungundo. In September 2,818 relief aid packages were distributed in Kuito Kuanavale to more than 4,000 families. 6,000 people from the UNITA controlled Moxico area had since December 1998 walked 300 km to reach Kuito Kuanavale. At the arrival many of them were dressed in old sacks, bark or grass, because they had lived isolated from the rest of the country for the past fifteen years. The families here were small, so some of the packages were shared by two families. Also in September, 5,000 packages were distributed to families in Luena in the Moxico province. Here there were app. 92,000 refugees in camps around Luena, and there is by no means land enough for that number of people. Only seven km outside of town UNITA's control over the area starts, so people in the Luena area have for a long time been isolated from the rest of the country and thereby from the most basic supplies. The Lutheran World Federation was responsible for the distribution. In the same month 200 packages were distributed to families in Cabinda, and 202 packages to homeless people in Luanda. From November until January, 5,000 packages were distributed to refugee families in the Kwansa Sul province. There used to be good agriculture with fruits and coffee, but now a large part of the population had been forced to flee due to war, land mines, and unsafe roads. The people were crammed together around the provincial capital of Sumbe, without a possibility of cultivating the land. Solidarity workers and local people from Ministry of Social Welfare distributed the packages in Sumbe, but it was too dangerous to go out into other isolated communities. There a helicopter would have had to be used. The Six Tons of Soya "Jesus Alive," another NGO in Benguela, gave twelve tons of soya protein to ADPP, who had the air transport paid by WFP, and then distributed it at the child centers in Huambo. It was mixed into the children's buns and porridge. At the same time one of Huambo's agricultural projects decided to start growing soya beans. The first harvest gave 6 tons, and with the help of a privately donated grinding mill the beans became flour. Thus it became 18 tons in total, instead of the original 6 tons of soya. ADPP has later bought the 6 tons of soya which the money was granted for, and wishes to use it for children in Caxito, where the mal-nourishment still is very severe. The Lutheran World Federation thanks ADPP in their report for the procurement of this material help, and for their loyalty in the implementation of this work: "There were many families who were affected and touched by this humanitarian act for the disparate population. Hopefully this first cooperation and partnership will continue in the future." There are also letters of thanks from the Italian NGO Movimondo Molisv, who took part in the distribution in Kuito Kuanavale, and from the local authorities in Katabola in the Bié province. The effects of the relief aid project in the small country of Guinea Bissau were very clear and unquestionable, to the direct benefit for 5% of the country's population and for general inspiration. Also in Angola, which is a gigantic country, the relief aid packages and the soya were - apart from being a material support - a contribution towards giving hope for a better future, since the people in need receive attention to their situation from international eyes - made real by people right here and now, who arrive into the camps or huts with packages and an open mind. |
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