Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Luanda (Fides Service)- On 27 March in Luanda, the capital of Angola there will be a meeting to discuss the inclusion of the needs of thousands of former Angolan refugees who have repatriated since the civil war ended in 2002 in the nation’s development programmes. The meeting was announced by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNCHR which said “for the first time the Angolan government has agreed to consider reintegration of repatriates in their places of origin a formal target”.
The government urged donors who will be at the meeting to include in their aid programmes projects to improve living conditions in the return areas mostly poor and isolated regions.
Participants at the Sustainable Reintegration Initiative meeting will include eight key government ministers, vice-governors of the four affected provinces, representatives of twenty foreign governments including the main donors, several UN agencies, the World Bank, the African Development Bank and representatives of major oil companies operating in Angola.
UNHCR has been a pioneer in this process playing an important role to promote the reintegration of former Angolan refugees. It now aims to involve the Angolan government and other Humanitarian Agencies in programmes to improve living conditions in the areas of return. UNHCR has assigned 10 million dollars for its aid programme 2006 and will continue assistance next year. However, not being a development agency itself UNHCR’s main goal is to foster sustainability of the programmes with the participation of other agents as its own role diminishes.
In the framework of the Sustainable Reintegration Initiative UNHCR has supported various programmes in areas of major flow of repatriates including construction of centres for women, rehabilitation of schools and professional training courses. It is estimated that when the peace agreement was signed at least 457,000 Angolans were outside their country, most of them in Zambia and Democratic Congo. Since then about 360,000 have returned to Angola, 123,000 with transport supplied by UNHCR, 89,000 of these benefited from UNHCR assistance on arrival in Angola and 149,000 did not. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 25/3/2006 righe 35 parole 418)
