Angola

Victim Assistance

Last updated: 26 July 2017

Action points based on findings

  • Fully fund the orthopedic centers, including provision of materials, so survivors and persons with disabilities can obtain prosthetic and orthotic devices.
  • Mainstream landmine survivor assistance into disability services.
  • Support the effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), ratified in May 2014, including through the rapid establishment of the national council for persons with disabilities.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Angola is responsible for a significant number of landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. Angola has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Victim Assistance

The total number of mine/ERW survivors reported for Angola is 88,716.[1] As of December 2014, 9,165 survivors had been surveyed and their needs identified in the first nine (of 18) provinces surveyed as part of the national mine action center’s (Comissâo nacional intersectorial de desminagem e assistência humanitária, CNIDAH) intended national victim survey.[2]

Victim assistance since 2015

As of the end of 2014, mine/ERW survivors with disabilities in nine of Angola’s 18 provinces had been surveyed as part of the National Victim Survey and Needs Assessment. The survey was launched in October 2010 with the purpose of identifying and registering mine and cluster munition survivors with disabilities, to understand their living situation, and to determine how to promote their socio-economic inclusion. By 2016, results of the survey were yet to be translated into programming and the survey was limited only to landmine and ERW survivors.

Through the Comprehensive National Victim Assistance Action Plan 2007–2011, CNIDAH aimed to support the development of a national survivor network, but no progress was made toward this objective within the timeframe of the plan due to insufficient funding and organizational problems. Angola’s victim assistance program is defined by the National Integrated Plan for Mine Victim Assistance 2013–2017 (PNIAVM), which CNIDAH is implementing.

Victim assistance in 2016

The economic crisis in Angola was caused by the global decline in oil prices, and led to a dramatic reduction in the Angolan government’s revenues, which has slashed the funds available for government-supported survivor assistance. The result has been a near shut-down of most survivor assistance programs, including those led by CNIDAH. Some programs are still available from domestic and international NGOs, but their reach is limited. The government refurbished some rehabilitation and orthopedic clinics, but failed to furnish them with the supplies and materials to deliver services.

Due to a lack of availability of services and accessibility of those services, only about 30% of those who need assistance from state-provided services, such as physical rehabilitation, schooling, training, or counseling, are able to obtain them.[3]

Assessing victim assistance needs

No victim surveys or survivor needs assessments were reported in 2016. Participants in a national meeting on mine action in June 2017 supported recommendations for completion of the project to register mine victims and the creation of a national database.[4]

Victim assistance coordination[5]

Government coordinating body/focal point

CNIDAH

Coordinating mechanism

CNIDAH’s Sub-Commission for Assistance and Reintegration with participation from relevant government ministries, including the Ministry for Assistance and Social Reintegration (Ministério da Assistência e Reinserção Social, MINARS), the Ministry of Health, and NGOs

Plan

National Integrated Victim Assistance Action Plan 2013–2017 (PNIAVM)

 

CNIDAH’s victim assistance coordination efforts in 2016 were severely limited by funding constraints and limited to reporting and information sharing. CNIDAH’s victim assistance team sees its role as limited to landmine and ERW survivors and therefore separate from other disability programming. CNIDAH is responsible for the implementation of the National Integrated Victim Assistance Plan 2013–2017 (PNIAVM), but with little support for landmine victim-only programming, the implementation has stalled.[6] CNIDAH members meet with partner organizations, both service providers and disabled people’s organizations (DPOs), to review their programs and monitor the impact for the beneficiaries—but these activities are solely informational.[7]

In 2013, Angola developed the National Plan of Integrated Action on Disability 2013–2017 (PNIAVM) as part of its national development plan “Angola 2025.” The disability plan included the objective of establishing a national council for persons with disabilities, and is designed to raise the profile of disability issues within the executive branch of the government and to improve coordination on disability issues among all government ministries.[8] The National Council for Persons with Disabilities was established in 2014 under the coordination of MINARS, however CNIDAH is not a member of the council.[9] In 2016, MINARS proposed the creation of the National Social Council that would combine three existing councils, for children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly, into a single council to reduce duplication and redundancy between the three councils.[10]

Angola did not report on victim assistance activities at the 2016 Mine Ban Treaty Meeting of States Parties or intersessional meetings in 2017. As of 1 July 2017, Angola had not submitted a Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report since 2014.

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

Landmine victims participate in processes that concern them as they are included in “coordination of awareness activities and landmine victim registration,” and through the NGO the Angolan Federation of Associations of People with Disabilities (FAPED).[11] In 2016, the Angola National Disability Association (ANDA) attended the 9th Disabled People’s International World Assembly.[12]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[13]

Name of organization

Type of organization

Type of activity

Changes in quality/coverage of service in 2016

MINARS

Government

Referrals for mobility devices, vocational training, assistance to start income-generating projects, provision of subsistence items

Ongoing

Ministry of Health

Government

Free emergency medical care for mine/ERW survivors

Ongoing

Ministry of Former Combatants and Motherland Veterans

Government

Pensions and economic integration activities for disabled veterans of the liberation war

Ongoing

National Rehabilitation Program (within Ministry of Health)

Government

Coordination and supply of materials to 11 national physical rehabilitation centers

Decreased availability of supplies and materials for prosthetics; only eight centers actively provided services

Angola Red Cross (Cruz Vermelha de Angola, CVA)

National organization

Transportation and referrals to victim assistance services

No update

 

Lwini Foundation

National NGO

Support for mobility devices and referrals for rehabilitation centers; vocational training, subsistence assistance

Ongoing

Angolan Association of Disabled Persons (Associação dos Deficientes de Angola, ANDA)

National NGO

Physical rehabilitation, professional training for persons with disabilities, transportation to access services; advocacy—coordinating a network of NGOs carrying out advocacy for disability rights

Ongoing, launch of Vem Comigo project to provide economic integration to persons with disabilities who survived by begging in Luanda

Angolan Paralympic Committee

National NGO

Sports for persons with disabilities:  three national programs, one in wheelchair basketball and two in adapted athletics

Sent team to 2016 Paralympic Games in Brazil

Associacao de Apoio a Crinca Vulneravel e Deficiente de Angola (AACVDA)

National NGO

Advocacy and awareness-raising; home visits to families of disabled children

Sensitization of 1,000 people on care for children with disabilities

Club Association of Former Combatants and Friends of Cuito Cuanavale Battle (CACBACC)

National NGO

Economic reintegration for disabled veterans of the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale

Ongoing

 

Physical rehabilitation

Only one of Angola’s prosthetics workshops was able to produce new prosthetic devices in 2016, the facility in Bie province, due to the lack of raw materials available in Angola. The governor of Bie prioritized the funding of supplies for the clinic in his province, the delivery of which were made by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which enabled the facility to continue to manufacture new devices. Other centers’ services were reduced to carrying out repairs, depending upon the severity of the problem with the prosthetic, and the provision of physical rehabilitation, which is also limited by the availability of equipment.[14]

The Dr. Agostinho Neto Medical and Physical Rehabilitation Center in the city of Huambo was faced with a lack of materials, resources, and international support, relying only on the minimal funds from the general state budget. The structure was reported to be “obsolete” and had a lack of technicians: only 18 compared to an estimated need of 40 professionals for the “hundreds of people” who use the center.[15]

The Angolan government renovated the prosthetic centers in the Uige and Huila provinces but the lack of supplies for those centers has prevented them from fulfilling their mandate.[16]

There are no private prosthetic centers in Angola; Angolans who can afford to do so travel to Europe or elsewhere to obtain new appliances. The Lwini Foundation’s “Passo Seguro” project purchases all of its prosthetic devices from Iceland and sponsors the travel costs of the prosthetists.[17]

Physical rehabilitation services were only available from eight of the 11 national orthopedic centers. Human resources are not evenly distributed in the country or distributed according to need, so while the centers have the combined capacity to serve 215 persons per day, the actual number of beneficiaries is much lower.[18] In addition to the public sector facilities, several civil society organizations including the AACVDA, the Institute for the Support of Vulnerable Children (Instituto ao Apoio a crianca Vulneravel, IACV), the Evangelical Baptist Church of Angola, and the Lwini Foundation, provided mobility devices and access to healthcare for landmine survivors and persons with disabilities.

There is no domestic production of wheelchairs, crutches, or other mobility devices, most are imported from China. With support from the government, ANDA purchases these devices and distributes them directly to prosthetics centers, hospitals, and other associations working with persons with physical disabilities.[19]

Psychological support

No advances where identified in the availability of psychological support in 2016. The need for psychological support was recognized by the IACV and the Evangelical Baptist Church who sought funds in 2015 for psychological support as part of a comprehensive package of victim assistance services in Huambo and Uige provinces, respectively.[20]

Economic and social inclusion

Few changes were identified in the availability of or access to economic inclusion activities in 2016.

The Lwini Foundation provided integration kits to survivors to supplement vocational training courses, enabling participants to start businesses or take on formal employment.[21]

Disabled Angolan army veterans receive pensions and other support from the Ministry of Former Combatants and Veterans of the Homeland. Programs operate nationally and on a provincial basis and include economic reintegration programs.[22] Disabled veterans from the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale were given agricultural lands and economic inclusion opportunities through the creation of agricultural cooperatives.[23]

ANDA launched the “Vem Comigo” project to offer economic alternatives to begging.[24]

Laws and policies

Two new laws created hiring quotas for persons with disabilities and guarantees for physical accessibility.[25] However, national laws preventing discrimination against persons with disabilities are not fully enforced. The National Council for Persons with Disabilities is responsible for monitoring violations of the law and the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration coordinates programming.[26] Physical accessibility of buildings is a priority for both the government and ANDA. The new airport for Luanda, still under construction, will be fully accessible and the Ministry of Construction will release guidelines for accessible housing.[27]

Angola ratified the CRPD on 19 May 2014, and recently submitted its first annual report to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.[28]



[1] National Institute of Statistics (INE), Resultados Definitivos Recenseamento Geral da Populacao e Habitacao (General Population and Housing Census Final Results), 2014, 28 March 2016, Quadro 8, População portadora de deficiência por província e área de residência, segundo as causas da deficiência e sexo (Table 8- Population of persons with disabilities by province and area of ​​residence, according to the causes of disability and sex).

[2] The total in the survey report from January 2014 was 6,048. In 2014, 2,744 survivors were identified in Benguela and Uige provinces; data from Huila and Huambo provinces appears to have been updated using the reporting from the 2014 survey.

[3] United States (US) State Department, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2016: Angola,” Washington, DC, 13 March 2017.

[4]Angola: Desminados mais de três biliões de metros quadrados” (“Angola: Demined more than three billion square meters”), Agencia Angola Press, 23 June 2017.

[5] CNIDAH, “Relatorio de Actividades Referente ao Ano de 2016: Departmento de Assistencia e Reinsercao Social,” 20 March 2017.

[6] Interview with Nsimba Paxe, CNIDAH, Luanda, 27 June 2016.

[7] CNIDAH, “Relatorio de Actividades Referente ao Ano de 2016: Departmento de Assistencia e Reinsercao Social,” 20 March 2017.

[8] CNIDAH, “Relatório Anual do ‘Projecto Nacional de Recolha e Actualização de Dados sobre as Pessoas com deficiência Vítima de Minas’–2014” (“Annual Report of ‘National Project to Collect and Update Data regarding Persons with Disabilities, Mine Victims’–2014”), Luanda, 2014.

[9] Interview with Nsimba Paxe, CNIDAH, Luanda, 27 June 2016.

[10] “Angola: Creation of National Social Action Council to optimize resources,” Agencia Angola Press, 10 May 2016.

[11] Statement of Angola, Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference, Maputo, 24 June 2014.

[13] CNIDAH, “Relatorio de Actividades Referente ao Ano de 2016: Departmento de Assistencia e Reinsercao Social,” 20 March 2017; interview with Silva Etiambulo, ANDA, Luanda, 29 June 2016; “Cuito Cuanavale: Former fighters association controls over 15,000 members,” Agencia Angola Press, 1 September 2016; “Ministry assists over 150,000 former combatants and motherland veterans,” Agencia Angola Press, 16 January 2017; statement of the Republic of Angola, Tenth Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 13–15 June 2017; “Sports minister attends Paralympics opening ceremony,” Agencia Angola Press, 6 September 2016; and “Vem Comigo. Project outlines strategy for reintegrating disabled people,” Agencia Angola Press, 16 January 2017.

[14] Interview with Silva Etiambulo, ANDA, Luanda, 29 June 2016.

[15]Angola: A guerra acabou mas as minas continuam a destruir vidas” (“Angola: The war is over but the mines continue to destroy lives”), SAPO24 News, 14 January 2017.

[16] Interview with Elda Doutel, Lwini Foundation, Luanda, 29 June 2016.

[17] Interviews with Nsimba Paxe, CNIDAH, Luanda, 27 June 2016; and with Elda Doutel, Lwini Foundation, Luanda, 29 June 2016.

[18] CNIDAH, “Relatorio de Actividades Referente ao Ano de 2016: Departmento de Assistencia e Reinsercao Social,” 20 March 2017; and statement of the Republic of Angola, Tenth Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 13–15 June 2017.

[19] Interview with Silva Etiambulo, ANDA, Luanda, 29 June 2016.

[20] UN Mine Action Service, “2015 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects,” undated.

[21] Interview with Elda Doutel, Lwini Foundation, Luanda, 29 June 2016.

[22] “Ministry assures control of over 150,000 assisted,” Agencia Angola Press, 28 December 2016; and “Ministry assists over 150,000 former combatants and motherland veterans,” Agencia Angola Press, 16 January 2017.

[23] “Cuito Cuanavale: Former fighters association controls over 15,000 members,” Agencia Angola Press, 1 September 2016.

[24] “Vem Comigo. Project outlines strategy for reintegrating disabled people,” Agencia Angola Press, 16 January 2017.

[25] Statement of the Republic of Angola, Tenth Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 13–15 June 2017.

[26] US State Department, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2016: Angola,” Washington, DC, 13 March 2017.

[27] Interview with Silva Etiambulo, ANDA, Luanda, 29 June 2016.

[28] Statement of the Republic of Angola, Tenth Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 13–15 June 2017.