UN TO HELP ANGOLA ACHIEVE ‘WATER FOR ALL’

The United Nations has joined forces with the Angolan Government to achieve universal access to water to boost health and curb poverty in the Southern African nation.

Under the "Water for All" scheme – also known as the Joint UN Programme on Water and Sanitation – that was launched last week in the capital, Luanda, Angola has committed to providing water for 80 per cent of urban and 50 per cent of rural dwellers by 2012, with targets raised to 100 per cent and 80 per cent, respectively, by 2020.

The multi-year programme is a joint initiative of the Government, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) and the non-governmental organization Institute of Medicine (IOM).

Clean, piped water is prohibitively expensive for many Angolan families, forcing them to rely on unsafe water, which, along with poor sanitary conditions, contributes to nearly 90 per cent of deaths from diarrhea.

UNICEF has underscored children's right to water and a clean environment, as enshrined ini the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

At the launch of the new initiative, Jocelline Bazile-Finley, UN Resident Coordinator, said that it will help Angola reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on ensuring environmental sustainability and "will also contribute to reducing poverty."

Some 120,000 people are set to benefit directly from the initiative, funded by the Spanish Government, while 400,000 others are expected to impacted positively.
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WHO Sees Chemicals Risk For Poor Country Healthcare.

"Growing use of chemicals in poor countries as they develop their economies is putting increasing strain on their healthcare systems and medical workers, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. 'The health sector is faced with additional roles and responsibilities due to increased production and use of chemicals in developing countries and those in economic transition,' the WHO said in a paper... submitted to the second International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM2)....

The WHO paper said the introduction of new chemicals into a society requires the health sector to expand its traditional roles and responsibilities. It highlights several incidents such as an outbreak of sodium bromide poisoning in Angola in March 2008 affecting 467 people, the death of 18 Senegalese children in February this year when a district of Dakar was contaminated by lead from recycled batteries, and eight deaths and about 85,000 health-related consultations from the dumping of toxic waste in Ivory Coast in 2006...." [Reuters/Factiva]

FLOODS DISPLACE THOUSANDS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA, UN SAYS

Floods across southern Africa, caused by extreme rainfall, have caused massive damage to land and property and displaced thousands of people, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today.

In Angola alone, the lives of 160,000 people have been upset by the rains and OCHA fears that number is likely to increase, with schools and other public buildings being used as shelter, interrupting education and other public services.

With some $600,000 already allocated to various emergency actions in Angola, UN humanitarian agencies are requesting more funds for shelter, food and other necessities from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which is managed by OCHA.

In Namibia, where 13,000 people have been displaced, many health facilities and schools are either flooded or inaccessible, the Office reported.

Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba has declared an emergency for the north-central and north-eastern part of the country and appealed for international assistance. In response, a Flash Appeal based on the outstanding needs jointly identified by the Government, the UN and humanitarian partners, is being finalized.

In addition, the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) Team has arrived in Namibia to help survey the situation and provide support to the local authorities.

Also in Namibia, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is assisting with sanitation and communication materials, as well as with planning for gaps in education and protection of displaced persons. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is also supporting protection projects within the relocation camps.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) has allocated $27,800 to the Namibian Ministry of Health for emergency kits to ensure basic health care for about 10,000 people, which includes five tons of medicine for diarrhoeal diseases and other emergency materials.

On the east coast, Cyclone Izilda is now dissipating south-west of Madagascar but could still pour more rainfall onto central and southern Mozambique, OCHA said.

The Office added that international response to the previous two cyclones that affected Madagascar in January has been adequate, but $400,000 is still required as an emergency measure to rehabilitate 20 classrooms for some 3,000 children who risk losing an entire school year.

Most of Zambia, northern and southern Malawi, and northern Botswana have also been hit by deluges, OCHA said.
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ICRC News Release - Angola: Boy reunited with mother as ICRC activities wind down

Luanda/Geneva (ICRC) – As one of its last actions before scaling back its work in Angola, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will today reunite a boy with his mother in Mussende, about 400 km south-west of the capital Luanda.

Serafim and his mother lost touch with each other 10 years ago, after the boy's father died in the fighting. "I am very happy to be returning to my mother's house," said Serafim. "I thought I would never see her again. It's like a miracle."

Serafim asked the ICRC for help in 2007. A year later, working together with the Angola Red Cross, the ICRC succeeded in locating his mother in Mussende, where she is now eagerly awaiting his return. Serafim is one of thousands of children who were separated from their families between 1975 and 2002. Since the end of the civil war the ICRC and the Angola Red Cross have traced over 2,000 unaccompanied children, reunited more than 750 families and handled 433,000 Red Cross messages (brief messages containing family news).

At the end of the 1980s Angola was the scene of the ICRC's biggest operation in Africa. Now, seven years after the end of Angola's devastating conflict, the ICRC is curtailing the operations it has carried out in the country since 1975. As of July this year, it will no longer run a delegation in the country, but will maintain an office in Luanda under the supervision of the ICRC delegation in South Africa. The Luanda office will provide support for certain Angola Red Cross programmes, such as those focusing on restoring family links. The ICRC will also continue to support the government in its efforts to incorporate provisions of international humanitarian law in national legislation. In Cabinda, the ICRC will continue to conduct visits to detainees on a regular basis.

"Nowadays, it is typically the role of the National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society to take the lead in domestic matters of humanitarian concern," explained Maryse Limoner, the outgoing head of the ICRC delegation. "The Angola Red Cross has a vast pool of volunteers and staff who will continue to assist those in need."

Last year already, the ICRC handed over its physical rehabilitation programme for landmine victims to the Ministry of Health and closed its sub-delegation in Huambo.

Besides tracing and reuniting families, the ICRC has been involved in various other activities in Angola such as providing medical assistance, physical rehabilitation, and water and sanitation services, protecting the civilian population, visiting places of detention, and promoting international humanitarian law among weapon bearers.