ANGOLA: Concern over mounting social tension

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

LUANDA, 14 Dec 2004 (IRIN) - The end of a devastating civil war and substantial oil wealth have done little to develop Angola or improve the lives of its 13 million people, the head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Angolan launch of the UNDP Human Development Report for 2004, where Angola ranks a poor 166th out of 177 countries, Pierre-Francois Pirlot told IRIN that three years of peace had still to bring significant benefits, particularly outside the capital and more prosperous coastal areas.

"Some progress has been made in some places, certainly Luanda, but if you look at what is happening in the provinces, we still have a long way to go," said Pirlot.

Pirlot feared that the absence of a peace dividend could cause frustration among the poverty-stricken population and spark civil unrest. "If we are not careful enough, I can see mounting of social tension which is going to be the next problem which will need to be tackled," he said.

Noting that at least 60 percent of the population were under the age of 25, and the majority without work, Pirlot said the potential scale of the problem was "enormous".

After 27 years of fierce fighting, a peace accord was finally signed in April 2002. But neither peace nor huge oil reserves – Angola is sub-Saharan Africa's second largest crude producer after Nigeria – has lifted the country off the bottom of the development scale.

"Infrastructure has been destroyed, the social infrastructure too, the medical services are not functioning anymore, there is a lack of employment opportunities – the whole lot needs to be redone," Pirlot said.

"The government is certainly struggling to find a way to move forward on some of these issues. There's a lot to be done and maybe too little has been done so far," he added.

Pirlot acknowledged that the difficult shift from a war-time centralised system of government to a peace-time free market economy was understandably difficult.

"You are speaking of a change in mentality and mentalities simply do not change that quickly, no matter what the political will is," he said.

The UN, itself moving away from providing emergency humanitarian relief, could help the government to strengthen its capacity and build strategies for its own development.

"It's not the hands-on approach. It's more assistance to the government to build its capacity to answer the problems of the country," he said. "The needs of the country are so great, particularly in terms of training the people and the staff to take charge of things, this is where the UN can make a difference."

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