Angola APPG Report

ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP ON ANGOLA Observations and Recommendations on a Visit to Angola September 2006 Facilitated by Christian Aid, Development Workshop Angola, Save the Children UK, the British Angola Forum at Chatham House and the British Embassy, Luanda CONTENTS ! Acknowledgements! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 2 ! Executive Summary! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 3 ! Introduction! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 6 1. ! Development: State and Community! ! ! ! ! 8 1. i! The Luanda Urban Poverty Programme! ! ! ! ! 8 1. ii! Save the Children! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 10 2. ! Land, Law and the Role of Civil Society! ! ! ! 12 2. i! Human Rights and Citizenship! ! ! ! ! ! 12 2. ii! Urban Land Tenure! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 13 2. iii! Rural Land Tenure! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 14 2. iv! Land Mines and Unexploded Ordinance!! ! ! ! 15 3. ! A State Without Citizens: The Impact of Oil! ! ! ! 16 3. i! The Macro-Economic Dominance of Oil! ! ! ! ! 16 3. ii! Transparency and Corruption! ! ! ! ! ! 16 3. iii ! Capacity Building! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 18 4. ! Beyond Oil: Economic Diversification! ! ! ! ! 19 4. i! Food Security! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 19 4. ii! Microcredit and the Informal Economy! ! ! ! ! 20 4. iii! Private Investment! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 21 4. iv! The Role of China! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 21 5. ! Democratisation!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 23 5. i! Plurality in Politics! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 23 5. ii! The Question of Elections! ! ! ! ! ! ! 23 5. iii! Centralisation and Decentralisation! ! ! ! ! 25 5. iv! Broadcasting, Publishing and the Media!! ! ! ! 25 Conclusion! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 27 Appendices! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 29 A! Party Parliamentary Group on Angola 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The APPG would like to thank Christian Aid, Development Workshop Angola and Save the Children Fund UK for making this visit possible. Their assistance, be it financial or in kind, in the provision of hospitality or in sharing of knowledge, ensured a full and fascinating visit. We are grateful to HM Ambassador Ralph Publicover and the staff of the British Embassy in Luanda who worked tirelessly before, during and after the visit to ensure its success. The hospitality, organisational support and insight supplied by the Embassy staff enabled a smooth and fulfilling trip. We would like to thank Mark O’Reilly of the British Embassy who accompanied us during the visit providing invaluable assistance. Many thanks are owed to Professor David Birmingham who joined the delegation on the visit, enriching it with his vast knowledge of the country, considerable energy and unbridled humour. He greatly helped to improve understanding of this complex country. We are grateful to him also for so much help in writing this report. The British Angola Forum at Chatham House provide administrative support to the Group and we thank Elizabeth Donnelly for helping to organize the visit. We are also grateful to Manuel Paulo, whose energy during more than a week of interpreting, organising and guiding never seemed to wane. Ollie Sykes of Christian Aid, Allan Cain of Development Workshop and Kate Ashton of the LUPP in particular deserve thanks for the time and knowledge they shared. We also owe thanks to the Save the Children and Development Workshop teams in Huambo who guided us through this part of the visit. There are so many that helped to make this visit a success that it is not possible to mention, and so many we came into contact with only briefly yet who contributed a great deal. So much was gained during this visit because of the generosity and good will with which all those we met shared their time and what information they could, to whom we owe great thanks. APPG Delegation to Angola 2006 A! Party Parliamentary Group on Angola 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In 2002 a peace agreement was reached between Angola’s two warring liberation movements, UNITA and the MPLA, after Angola suffered thirty years of civil war. The legacy of the war is an overpopulated capital city and a severely underdeveloped interior, a young undereducated population lacking in skills and opportunities, an absence of infrastructure and severely under-resourced public institutions. Angola’s oil wealth was estimated to generate US$14 billion in 2006 for the government. The country also has an estimated diamond wealth of nearly US $1billion. The country’s literacy rate is said to be much less than 50 per cent and child mortality is estimated to be over 20 per cent. Angola imports half of its food and has scarcely begun to rebuild its once flourishing commercial agriculture. Gaps in wealth and in standards of living, in infrastructure and service provision, are matched by gaps in information; fact and statistics are elusive and unreliable. There are also gaps in expectation; the international community expects a government with massive oil wealth to be self-reliant in poverty alleviation and development, while the government expects the international community to provide aid and investment to a country which has barely begun to recover from war. After thirty years of war Angola also suffers from the gaps in its development history when there was no space for the population to evolve democratic systems and civic institutions, there was no capacity to plan service provision, and there was no opportunity for Angolans to lead a ‘normal’ life. The West has much to learn from the Angolan experience, where proxy wars and continued post-cold war conflict achieved nothing for the country, instead taking it backwards. Although there are government plans for development, the Angolan people still need help to create a state which, during and after the Cold War, disappeared for thirty years. Recommendations: • The APPG recommends that HMG engage with and provide support to the government of Angola to help enhance development programmes, and that HMG should encourage the European Union to provide more support to peace-building and development in Angola. HMG should encourage development organisations to remain engaged to prevent their withdrawal from this still fragile environment. • The APPG calls on HMG to at least maintain its DfID Programme in Angola at £5million per annum, as it has the capacity to make a real difference on the ground, to work with the GoA on sustainable development programmes, and to provide support in preparation for and after elections. Anything less than this amount would only allow for tokenistic programme to function. A! Party Parliamentary Group on Angola 3 • The APPG recommends that the Department for International Development (DfID) maintain its support of the Luanda Urban Poverty Programme for the next few years. Developing the sustainability of this programme with communities involved is crucial as part of a phased exit strategy. Contributions of technical advice in addition to financial support are important to Angola’s broader capacity deficit, which needs attention in areas such as local administration, citizen participation, the judiciary, police and public services. • The APPG urges HMG to support organisations such as the Save the Children Fund and its own Department for International Development in work to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and to try to curb its spread. • HMG should collaborate with the government of Angola, the British Council, the Bar Council and the Law Society to increase advice and technical support for legal reform, judicial effectiveness and civic education. • The APPG urges HMG, with the support and engagement of the GoA, to enable support for programmes which aim to inform and assist Angolan citizens in exercising their rights and seeking security in land and shelter. • The APPG applauds the Halo Trust for the work carried out thus far and asks that HMG continues to collaborate with the GoA in supporting the Halo Trust and similar organisations, with the aim of expediting landmine clearance in Angola. • The APPG recommends that the Westminster Foundation for Democracy investigate ways in which it might offer support to political parties in Angola in their efforts to become more responsive to their citizens. • The APPG asks that HMG offer help and support to those organisations involved in the planning and holding of elections in Angola and continue its support for the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa and other organisations involved in civic education in Angola. The APPG believes that the Westminster Foundation for Democracy could also be of great assistance in this. • The APPG believes that HMG could, through the UKTI, contribute to nurturing the environment for private investment in Angola and should support the GoA and relevant organisations in work to improve the investment environment and transparency. • The APPG recommends that discussions take place between the British Parliament and the National Assembly of Angola to facilitate reciprocal visits and mutual support, that the IPU be encouraged to develop stronger relationships with the Angolan National Assembly and that the Assembly be offered every support from the UK, including assistance and technical support from the Westminster Foundation for Democracy. A! Party Parliamentary Group on Angola 4 • The APPG further recommends that the UK Department for Culture Media and Sport offers support to the Angolan government in the development of the country’s emerging news media. • The APPG on Angola was pleased to learn that the British Council is making plans to initiate a programme in Angola for English language teaching. The APPG urges HMG to give the British Council its full support to run an effective English language education programme in Angola, and furthermore to investigate other ways in which it might support and advance

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