Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-14-Speech-2-181"
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"en.20030114.6.2-181"2
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". – Mr President, the Commission is committed to addressing the dramatic humanitarian crisis in Angola effectively and without delay and to supporting the peace process. The Commission is constantly monitoring the situation in Angola, as we have done for many years, in order to get a clear picture of humanitarian needs. I will be going to Angola – and also to Zambia – to assess the situation myself later this month, so I shall gain an overview of the humanitarian situation and the development of the peace process in Angola. On that occasion I will be signing the EC-Angola cooperation strategy for 2002-2007, including the plan of action.
These are times of great change and challenge for Angola after many years of conflict. The emphasis now will be on progress, economic growth, stability and governance. That will change the whole mood of politics in the country and I am looking forward to the dialogue we shall be participating in next week.
The Commission's action in Angola is twofold: emergency humanitarian aid and a longer-term strategy based on cooperation. This is funded by ECHO and by EDF funds. As far as the humanitarian aid is concerned, the Commission, through ECHO, has already generated a considerable amount of funding to address the needs and will maintain its presence and commitment in the country throughout this year.
Last year Angola was among the top ten recipients of ECHO funding, receiving a total of EUR 14 million. This year, an initial decision has been taken to provide EUR 8 million funding, due to be adopted soon.
Malnutrition is one of the main targets for our support in the humanitarian area, particularly in forgotten regions where no other donors are present in the country. As far as the longer-term strategy is concerned, in May 2002, a month after the signature of the peace agreement, a plan of action to support the peace process was presented by the Commission and approved by the General Affairs Council on 13 May. The plan of action identified a financial package, originally EUR 124 million, from unspent EDF funds and budget lines aimed at addressing the most pressing concerns at this stage, including emergency relief, food aid and food security, reintegration and resettlement of refugees and displaced persons and de-mining operations. The implementation of this is now under way and to our great satisfaction we can start doing things in a country where for many years we have, owing to the circumstances, only been able to do humanitarian work.
On that basis, and as part of this plan of action, the Commission has made EUR 30 million available for emergency support for the peace process by reallocating funds from earlier European Development Funds to support short-term work on the peace process.
These funds are targeted at medical assistance, the distribution of seeds and tools, food aid and the resettlement of former UNITA soldiers and their families. De-mining is also important. We tried to do all this as quickly as possible last year.
The decision on all this will be implemented through different UN agencies, EuronAid and FAO for the food security component and different NGOs for the de-mining operations. Proposals for EUR 16 million have been signed and the remaining proposals are awaiting approval by the Angolan national authorities. They are expected to be finalised within the next few weeks.
Although humanitarian support will continue to be provided, the Commission considers that pressure must be kept up on the Angolan Government to urge it to assume more direct responsibility for its own vulnerable populations. We are therefore calling upon the government of Angola to make more efforts in addressing the critical humanitarian needs of the population.
We welcome the Angolan Government’s intention to organise an international conference for the reconstruction of the country, and trust that the views of all groups in society will be reflected in the reconstruction plan to be presented. The Commission has offered to assist in the organisation of the conference, which is tentatively scheduled to take place in March or April 2003 in Brussels, kindly hosted by the Belgian Government."@en1
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