HMD RESPONSE PROGRAMMES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA - ANGOLA

Thirty years of civil was, involving at one time or another every regional and major power, from the former coloniser, Portugal the regional hegemony, South Africa, and from the Soviet Union and Cuba to the United States, has left Angola utterly destroyed and littered with more landmines than people. This is the heaviest mined country in the world, with more than 70,000 mine-disabled people. Mines have made the UN relief programme one of the largest and most expensive air operations in the world. In 1994 alone, more than 200,000 tonnes of food were delivered throughout Angola at a cost of $100 million. It is an expense the international community admits it cannot afford to continue paying. In similarly mined countries, such as Cambodia or Afghanistan, development is able to coexist with mines, albeit with difficulty. In Angola this is not the case. Mines are everywhere: on roads and bombed-out bridges and airport runways, along river banks and railway tracks, and in and around towns, villages and forests.

HMD Response Mission to Angola :

HMD Response has made a succession of feasibility studies on establishing a mine awareness and disposal programme in Angola. The feasibility study was carried out on a Mission undertaken by the HMD Response CEO Philip Garvin, members from the Irish Army Medical and Engineer Corps and a member of the British Army TA Medical Corp.

The aim of the Mission was to access local requirements and priorities in order to establish:

• Geographically where action would be most beneficial
• How any potential project should be structures given local priorities

The Mission initially visited areas believed to be in need of mine clearing. These were Saurimo, Luena, Lagambo, Chuiliu. In order to benefit from the considerable NGO and government activity that had already taken place concerning this important issue, the Mission had a number of meetings with these organizations in order to establish what the priorities were in terms of a viable mine clearance/ victim assistance programme.

Observations by the Mission :

NGOs and UNIVEM are of consensus that mines exist in such numbers as to contribute to a severely limited level of food production and a steady stream of mine injuries amongst the civilian population.

The Mission Recommended the Following:

1. The geographical area selected was Lunda Sul, centering on the capital SAURIMO.
   
2. The priority needs of the community were found to be: (in order)
   • Mine awareness programmes;
   • Demining of agricultural land and pathways;
   • Provision of surgical facilities and related facilities;
   • The provision of prostheses;
   • Hospital rehabilitation.

The clearing of mines had a direct link with the production of food. Both have an immediate impact on health, primary health care and positive responses to surgery.