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Angola

Download this program description (pdf, 31k) Download Adobe Acrobat Reader In Huambo, a puppet show tells a story to all age groups. Photos taken by Vivi Stavrou, courtesy of Christian Children's Fund Building Resilience in Angolan Children and Communities Implementing Partners: Christian Children's Fund (CCF) Funding Period: April 2002 – November 2006 Amount: $4,002,196 Purpose: Strengthen the capacity of staff in selected organizations and institutions to address the mental health and social needs of war-affected children and young people. Enhance the capacities of selected communities to promote resilience in children. Accomplishments All of the NGO’s clients continue to fulfill their missions and improve the quality of services provided to children. Training for teams working with federal ministries has contributed to positive changes in policy, but has been less successful in changing work practices—training staff in provincial and local public service institutions has been more successful in changing attitudes and practices in the workplace. CCF is a recognized leader in addressing child crises, including a recent widespread campaign on the issue of children accused of witchcraft. With a careful understanding of the context, CCF devised solutions to address and raise awareness of the issue, and care for the children accused. Angola Child Recovery Program Implementing Partners: Save the Children UK/ANGOLA Funding Period: Oct. 2002 – Sept. 2005 Amount: $2,877,190 Purpose: Enhance child protection, reduce abuse, and increase access to basic services and livelihood opportunities . Integrate lessons learned into national policies and legislation for children. Accomplishments Developed three rural Child Protection (CP) Municipal Plans and one Community Child Protection Plan. Enabled local government authorities to take ownership of the situation analysis and child protection plans. Trained 35 trainers, promoting child participation in development/protection activities. Supported municipal and community Theatre for Development. Established Provincial CP Networks in Uige and Huambo; Municipal CP Networks in Tchicala Tcholohanga, Quibala, and Sanza Pombo; and 12 community-level CP Networks and interested groups. Registered more than 13,000 children in targeted municipalities through network campaigns for birth registration. Reunited more than 1,800 families and placed more than 700 children in substitute families in target provinces in 2003/2004.¹ Provided up to 15,000 particularly vulnerable children or households with domestic kits (e.g., clothes, blankets, soap, kitchen utensils). Provided 11,400 people with emergency food aid via the World Food Program through network advocacy in Quibala. Provided more than 30,000 people (over 6,000 families)² in Quibala and Sanza Pombo with seeds and tools. Supported the participation of more than 100 young people in collecting data and developing rural Municipal Protection Plans.

¹ National figures from 2003 and provincial figures from January – March 2004. SC-UK supported the Uige Provincial Network in Tracing and Reunification work from October - December 2002; however, the bulk of support to Program for Family Localization and Reunification began in 2003.
² Number doesn’t include families who received seeds through Associação Cristã de Mocidade, the Angolan YMCA and YWCA).

In April 2002, the Armed Forces of Angola (FAA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) signed a ceasefire agreement, ending 40 years of war. This agreement aimed to complete the military aspects of the 1995 Lusaka Protocols, achieve rapid demobilization of combatants, and move the country toward elections. To date, demobilization has been completed and elections are planned for 2006. By the end of 2004, an estimated 3 million displaced Angolans and refugees had returned home. They are now living in areas that are only recently accessible, with limited support for reintegration.

The war has had a profound impact on Angolan society and on the children of Angola. CCF reports that in Huambo, approximately one in ten young people between 8 and 25 were abducted at least once during the war. Boys were typically assigned to serve as personal assistants to soldiers; girls provided logistical support and accompanied the attacks. Both girls and boys describe extreme physical hardship with long- term after-effects from injuries.

Few of the affected young people have benefited from formal demobilization or reintegration programs. Boys confirmed that those 25 and under were excluded from the demobilization program because they were too young. Many reported feeling resentful that they were old enough to fight and die but not considered old enough to benefit from a demobilization package. Abused and exploited during the war, they now feel they are being ignored during the peace. As a result, while many can describe their ambitions for the future, most say they have no real hope of realizing these dreams.

USAID’s Displaced Children and Orphans Fund seeks to address this disparity through community- based initiatives that build resilience and respond to children’s needs.

Moreover, DCOF support is working to improve the systems—particularly child protection and education networks—that support children’s health and well-being.

Under the Building Resilience in Angolan Children and Communities program, the Christian Children’s Fund is assisting in the development of community-based child protection networks for vulnerable children in four provinces. Through these networks, local groups exchange views and ideas, pool resources, and create a culture of collaboration in service of children and families. One of the key contributing factors to the success of these networks is their ability to connect the community, the local government, and the provincial government.

In villages neighboring the selected communities, residents have begun to replicate the pre-school activities and organize activities for adolescents—all with minimal support from project teams.

Save the Children’s Angola Child Recovery Program protects children against abuse and increases access to basic services through links between the provincial- and municipal-level Child Protection Committees. The Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration (MINARS) is a close partner; the project supports MINARS in the tracing and reunification of separated children. Other partners include UNICEF and the Christian Children’s Fund.

In 2004, Save the Children UK and the National Children’s Institute, in partnership with the Municipal Administrations of Sanza Pombo, Quibala, Tchicala Tcholohanga, and Hojy-Ya Henda, officially launched child-focused municipal plans, developed jointly by community leaders, civil society, and local government. These plans have increased the effectiveness of child protection committees and have provided administration with a Municipal Development plan that is attracting external resources.

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