After over thirty years of war Angola is devastated. Humanitarian aid reaches only about ten to fifteen percent of the country in limited zones in and around the major provincial capitals where security can be guaranteed. The number of internally displaced people has grown to over four million – about a third of the population. More than four hundred thousand others have taken refuge abroad. The humanitarian crisis is equalled only by that in Afghanistan.
Angola: Beyond Savimbi
The death of rebel UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi on February 22 in Moxico province is a watershed. The Angolan government had become fixated upon Savimbi’s demise and the ceasefire that followed offers the best chance for peace in living memory. Luanda will now be increasingly under the international spotlight over democracy, corruption and how it spends the oil money.