Luanda — After decades of isolation, a huge swathe of Angola's eastern Moxico province is once again safely accessible by road following the completion of a two-year bridge building project conducted by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

Begun in January 2005, the US$8 million project has finally reopened the main road to Lumbala N'guimbo, which had been closed for most of Angola's 27-year-long civil war when it was heavily mined and every one of its bridges destroyed.

"This road is a vital lifeline for the entire region and tens of thousands of people will now be able to move around freely again – to take their children to clinics and their goods to market," said Bradley Guerrant, WFP Country Director in Angola.

"Families and communities in this part of eastern Angola have been cut off for years but now they have the opportunity to start rebuilding their lives, boosting the socio-economic development of the entire region."

From the outset, the project involved cooperation with the government, donors and non-governmental organisations. All the planning and implementation was done in very close consultation with the Road Agency of Angola (INEA), while the road itself had to be de-mined by the Mine Advisory Group (MAG) before any bridges could be built.

The project was funded by a variety of donors, including the European Commission, United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway.

By the time the road was officially reopened last month, 5 wooden bridges and 11 steel bridges had been built by WFP's implementing partner, Swedish Rescue Services Agency (SRSA).

"WFP could never have succeeded without the support of the Angolan government and our donors and the technical expertise of our NGO partners in the field," said Guerrant.

While the project was focused on Moxico Province, WFP was also responsible for building 10 bridges in Lunda Sul Province, which have helped families in previously inaccessible communities to travel freely at long last and to start enjoying the benefits of peace.

The bridges in Lunda Sul were constructed with the cooperation of the government, donors, SRSA and the de-mining NGO, Halo Trust.

"With our partners, WFP has helped to open up large parts of Moxico and Bie provinces as well as paving the way for international traffic to resume between southeastern Congo and Zambia, which will hopefully encourage development across the region," said Guerrant.