Annan recommends extending UN Office in Angola to help peace efforts

With fighting continuing in many parts of Angola, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended that the United Nations office in the country be extended through mid-October to help support efforts to bring peace to the country.

"The armed conflict in Angola has continued unabated, leaving much of the country insecure," the Secretary-General notes in a report to the Security Council released today. "Guerrilla activities are forcing the population to flee into neighbouring countries and creating serious humanitarian situations."

Mr. Annan says he has asked his Adviser for Special Assignments in Africa, Ibrahim Gambari, to continue consulting with the Angolan Government and Member States "on how best the United Nations can help accelerate the process of peace in the country." As part of that effort, Mr. Gambari will be visiting Angola in early May.

According to the report, since the resumption of hostilities in 1998, the number of persons reportedly displaced has reached 2.86 million. "Of that number, 2.22 million internally displaced persons reportedly live in areas accessible to humanitarian agencies and 1.13 million of them have been confirmed by humanitarian organizations," the Secretary-General notes. He urges the donor community to respond as generously as possible to the UN's humanitarian appeals for Angola.

Reporting on the "tense" security situation throughout the country, Mr. Annan says government troops are reported to be pursuing the residual forces of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). He also reports that UNITA troops "have been deserting in large numbers" under the Government's amnesty law.

As a direct consequence of the ongoing conflict, the human rights situation continues to be undermined, according to the report. "Civilians, in particular villagers and farmers, are often victims of serious and recurring human rights abuses." The UN Office in Angola is helping the country's citizens to exercise their rights. Among other projects, the Office is supporting human rights counsellors, public interest litigation, weekly human rights radio programmes and weekly human rights articles in newspapers.

In recommending the extension of the UN Office, which was authorized by the Security Council in October 1999, the Secretary-General observes that it would "continue to play an essential role in reporting on political and related developments in the country and in providing assistance to the Government and people of Angola in the area of human rights and capacity-building."