Washington, DC — As the weeks have passed since Angolas ceasefire was signed between Unita and the MPLA government on April 4, it has become clear that a grim situation lies behind Unita lines. As people stumble out of the bush into reception centers, they are telling of intense suffering, of people dying of hunger. Olara Otunnu, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict has been traveling in Angola during the past week, visiting the eastern and central provinces of Bie, Moxico and Benguela. He talked to allAfrica.com by telephone from the Angolan capital, Luanda, about what hed encountered. Excerpts:
Can you say what you found when you visited these provinces?
Well I have visited children, women and young people who are in camps for displaced persons, who are in transitional centers and who are in hospital and uniformly, they are severely malnourished.
Almost uniformly, all the children suffer from some disease or other - malaria usually, pneumonia, measles, skin diseases - preventable diseases, the result of lack of medication, of water and soap, basically. So the conditions are very serious.
Now, I have not been to the quartering areas where the Unita military are gathering, but Ive spoken with people in the provinces who have been there and they describe the situation as very grave. And that really is the immediate humanitarian emergency.
And then of course, there are people who are still in the previously Unita-controlled areas. We know, from those who have come out, how bad the situation is there. So they must be in terrible distress.
Those who are emerging are in terrible condition and everything has to be done immediately to mobilize food and medicine and water to come to the relief of those who are in danger.
Why was it so bad in those areas?
There was systematic and massive displacement of the population because of the war, so people were moved from their areas and congregated in places where they couldnt really grow food, so famine and isolation set in.
And then, of course, remember there was also the sanctions regime against Unita which had its own impact. Nothing could be flown in - so food, medicine, transport, communications, all those things dried up. And many people are said to have died from sheer famine, including military officers.
What kind of numbers are we talking about?
Ill give you one example, I went to the province of Moxico. There, right now, they have got 250,000 people displaced and they are expecting 350,000 others to emerge from the zone previously controlled by Unita. So that gives you a sense of the magnitude, in just one province. It is true that Moxico in the centre was among the three or four provinces worst affected by war, but the magnitude of the problem is enormous.
Generally, there are more than 4.5m people who have been displaced throughout the war in Angola. Some of these have resettled, but more than one million are still depending on humanitarian assistance from UN agencies and NGOS; and then, of course, youve got the very fresh load of displaced people who are emerging from the Unita areas.
How are local officials coping with the crisis in these provinces?
Well they are deeply preoccupied by the prospect of a humanitarian disaster and they stress, over and over again, the gravity of the situation in the camps, the quartering areas.
The local administrators, the community and church leaders were equally clear in saying that the local capacity does not exist; the will is there but theres no local capacity to cope with this magnitude of humanitarian challenge. It is more than anything that they had expected or foreseen, so they are appealing to the international humanitarian community.
That is why I have launched an urgent appeal for the government and the international community to join hands and immediately mobilize food and medicine for the populations which are endangered by these conditions.
And are you hopeful that youll get a good response from the international community? Do you know how much is needed?
I think the response for the immediate humanitarian phase will be very good. For one thing, they realize this is a matter of saving lives, thats what were talking about.
But for another, if a humanitarian disaster breaks out, this clearly will compromise the peace process, stability and the reconciliation process which has started. You dont want destabilizing elements and banditry to break out - when people cant get food and they take out the arms that they may have hidden and begin to help themselves in local villages.
So it is really critical that one should respond very quickly to the present humanitarian emergency; I think the international community will respond, and respond quickly. I met with the donors here in Luanda, the key countries that provide assistance, and they are willing and eager to help.
Of course, at the moment, everyones waiting for a clear invitation from the Angolan government, which is in charge of managing the camps and quartering areas, to indicate the kind of assistance and the framework of assistance that we need. And I hope that will come very soon, its very important that it should come soon.
Let me ask you about the government because youre now in Luanda and I know you have met with senior members of the government; do they share your view that the situation is so grave?
Yes they do. In my discussions with ministers and various senior officials they share this preoccupation.
If it wasnt clear earlier, certainly it is clear now and certainly I impressed upon them what I have heard from the ground, from the provinces and I think they have a clear sense, a clear picture of the situation and the magnitude of the challenge - and the possibility of this descending into a tragedy of major proportions.
While one does not want to distract any attention from mobilising support, you are surely going to hear people saying, "but hang on a minute, this isnt Sierra Leone, this is Angola where they have phenomenal oil reserves and riches, and where a respected NGO has said that up to a third of the national revenues - $1.4bn - were stolen through corruption last year; a lot of people will be concerned that the government will not do their share.
Well please do not forget that up until now, the entire operation has been managed exclusively by the government itself. The peace process, the ending of the war, the ceasefire, the inviting of the ex-Unita soldiers to come and be quartered, all this has been managed exclusively by the Angolan government, and its gone remarkably well, considering that were talking about thirty years of war.
The fact that Angola today has put war behind it is an earth-shaking development. Given the history of the country, given more than 40 years of warfare (if you include the war of liberation as well) that to me is very good news for children.
It's not a question of the will, the will isnt lacking, it is the capacity and the experience which is not up to the magnitude of the task and also, the fact that the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis could not have been foreseen.
This is where the international community comes in; they have the experience, they have the expertise, they know how to do this and do it quickly and that is the kind of support that the government needs to be able to get on top of the crisis.
Now youve spoken about your concern that Angolan children could become "spoilers of peace" if they dont get the support that they need; given, particularly, the issue of child soldiers, who were recruited on both sides, what if their problems are not addressed?"
Well, when one speaks about the fate of children and the youth, it is more than the child soldiers, it is all the categories of children who suffered indescribably during the conflict; the displaced and the orphaned and the separated and those who were maimed, were traumatized - the entire youth and children group in the country have been deeply touched by the conflict.
What Im saying is that we are at a crossroads and - comparing this with the example of other countries - if one invests in children right now, in education, in their health, in vocational training, in rehabilitating services that benefit them, these young people could become a powerful force for reconstruction, for peace and for social progress in a very creative way.
But if that isnt done, they could easily become alienated, disillusioned, bitter, disconnected - and then of course they become an army of spoilers. So its really important that major and decisive steps be taken to invest in young people to avoid a crisis of youth, that could destabilize the situation and make durable peace elusive.
One can visit town after town in Angola where there is no-one who has tertiary education; what youre describing would require people with education and experience to help build facilities again for children and young people outside the big cities. How can a government persuade those trainers and teachers and leaders to go back out in to the countryside and stay and help those communities?
Part of investing in children and youth means that the government has to invest in rehabilitating schools, in training teachers, recruiting new ones and building vocational centers, and clearly this entails in part, in my view, redirecting the allocation of national resources, especially budgetary allocations.
While the war lasted it was understandable that defence and security and the war should have the lions share of the budget. Now with peace, part of the peace dividend for youth and children should be that the government will significantly increase the proportion of budgetary allocation devoted to the social sector, especially to three things; schooling and education, health, and nutrition.
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The government has already started moving in that direction. This years budget includes an increase in the social sector; but one needs to increase even more, given the magnitude of the problems.
And then I would say that where one has Angolan cadres, people who have got professional training, because of the conditions in the countryside, it is very difficult to attract them to be based in the provinces, especially those which were terribly affected by war. So the government would need, I think, to build some incentives to make it possible for the Angolan professional cadres to be attracted to the countryside.
But I believe that if these measures are taken, the international community, the United Nations, the international NGOs and donors, will respond to the leadership of the Angolan government and play their role, make their own contribution.
But it is important that the Angolan government be seen to be investing and devoting significant resources and attention to young people and children.
What are the long term prospects for these children?
I have stressed the importance of the emergency situation right now. But we must not forget that this is a temporary phase, urgent but temporary, and we hope this will be taken care of quickly. The bigger challenge is the long term - we need a solid, post-conflict programme in place for reconstruction and rehabilitation and healing.
We need to ensure that the concerns of young people - their education, their health, their future, - will be central in such a programme of reconstruction. This is very important in the long term.
Of course, children are often perceived by governments as having no power and therefore not being very important. Would you favour some development like weve seen in Sierra Leone, for example, where theyve actually got a youth party to articulate young peoples goals?
Well I very much encourage and support the active participation of children and young people in the peace process, their views being solicited, their inputs being sought and they themselves forming organizations expressing their own views and telling their own stories.
With young people's participation and engagement, they can be a force for good, for peace and reconstruction. But their exclusion would lead to the opposite. So I very strongly encourage their participation in the peace process and rebuilding the country.
