Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06LUANDA151
2006-02-15 15:30:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Luanda
Cable title:  

ANGOLA LANDMINE CLEARANCE: 2006 GOALS AND

Tags:  PARM PREL EAID PGOV PHUM MCAP KHDP AO 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8374
RR RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR
DE RUEHLU #0151/01 0461530
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151530Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY LUANDA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2488
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LUANDA 000151 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/S (JMALONEY) AND PRM/WRA (DNETLAND)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PARM PREL EAID PGOV PHUM MCAP KHDP AO
SUBJECT: ANGOLA LANDMINE CLEARANCE: 2006 GOALS AND
CHALLENGES

REF: 05 LUANDA 01583

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LUANDA 000151

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/S (JMALONEY) AND PRM/WRA (DNETLAND)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PARM PREL EAID PGOV PHUM MCAP KHDP AO
SUBJECT: ANGOLA LANDMINE CLEARANCE: 2006 GOALS AND
CHALLENGES

REF: 05 LUANDA 01583


1. (U) Summary: Representatives of mine action organizations
operating in Angola remain upbeat on the progress of demining
in Angola, but look for the GRA to complete its Landmine
Impact Survey and strategic plan in order to facilitate their
2006 workplans. While the GRA has earmarked USD 27.6 Million
for demining related activities, challenges remain in
strengthening the GRA indigenous capacity for landmine
clearance, quality control, and infrastructure rebuilding in
areas certified as demined. End Summary.


2. (U) Pol/Econ Chief and Pol Officer hosted a roundtable
discussion with key representatives from mine action
organizations operating in Angola on February 13, 2006, to
get an update on their goals and challenges for 2006.
Representatives of Halo Trust, Mine Action Group (MAG),and
UNDP Mine Action participated. The UNDP Mine Action
representatives also serve as direct technical advisors to
the Angolan National Commission on Demining and Humanitarian
Assistance (CNIDAH). Note: USG funds Halo Trust and MAG
through PM/WRA funds. Other donors supporting demining
operations in Angola include Norway, Great Britain, the EC,
Japan, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. End
Note.

GRA Emphasizing Demining in 2006
--------------

3. (SBU) In October 2005, the GRA,s Council of Ministers
created an Executive Commission on Demining (reftel). The
UNDP Mine Action representative noted that this body will
serve as the central coordinator and funding mechanism for
the GRA,s mine action operators, such as the Armed Forces of
Angola (FAA) and the National Institute for Demining (INAD).
While the UNDP representatives shared concerns of possible
overlap between the Executive Commission and the CNIDAH, they
did not believe that this would impede the work of either
government body. Their biggest concern regarding the
Executive Commission are its plans for the training of new

demining brigades. If this Commission, led by the Minister
of Assistance and Social Reinsertion, calls for a rapid
increase in the number of FAA or INAD demining brigades, the
consensus was the GRA did not have the capability to properly
train the new brigades.


4. (U) CNIDAH,s main task this year is the completion a
country-wide strategic plan for demining based on the
Landmine Impact Survey (LIS). The LIS has been completed for
14 of Angola,s 18 provinces. In addition to the information
on the impact of landmine contamination, it contains GPS data
on population centers, roads, bridges and other key
infrastructure. In the absence of recent census data, this
information also has enormous potential benefit for
organizations involved in community development, democracy
building, HIV/AIDS, health education, etc., since it locates
and quantifies provincial population centers. However, while
CNIDAH has said the information would be available to all
stakeholders, it has not yet been shared with mine action
operators.


5. (U) The GRA, in its 2006 budget, has earmarked USD 27.6
Million for the National Program for Demining, though this
represents the total of demining funding allocated among
ministries and organizations. Most funding will go directly
to the Ministry of Social Reinsertion and the Ministry of
Defense and then flows from their coffers into INAD and the
FAA. The GRA has emphasized demining as a high priority in
2006 and has linked the timing for upcoming elections with
the ability of provincial Angolan voters to reach polling
stations without risk of stepping on landmines.

The NGOs view: Progress but Constant Challenges
-------------- --

6. (SBU) The demining organization program directors, both of
whom have had on the ground demining experience in
Afghanistan and Cambodia, commented on the challenges faced
in Angola. They considered the greatest challenge to be the
lack of government follow-on in areas they have successfully
cleared. For example, they mentioned the discouraging
situation when the demining group is asked to clear a school
area or an area surrounding a destructed bridge. The groups
comply, but once cleared there is no funding for providing a
teacher for the school or for the construction of the bridge.
They also commented Angola,s indigenous capacity for
clearing is weak in comparison to other countries in which
they had worked. Given this situation, they see the work here
requiring a longer and larger commitment by the international
NGOs. The NGOs aim to increase their efficiency by using the
LIS data to target high impact mine fields and to more
effectively staff and train Angolans in middle management

LUANDA 00000151 002 OF 002


positions.


7. (U) Neither group has trouble recruiting new employees,
commenting that if there is an advertisement placed for new
hires a line appears outside their doors. Both make efforts
to employ workers from rural areas in order to better
distribute wealth outside provincial capitals. Entry level
deminers receive 3 weeks intensive training and are paid
$180-190 a month compared to the national minimum wage of $70
a month. Within each organization workers can assume
positions of higher responsibility with higher pay. Lately,
they have noticed a movement of trained deminers hired away
to work on GRA demining brigades, clearing areas in
conjunction with Chinese-funded road projects. However they
have seen no Chinese involved in actual demining.


8. (SBU) The UNDP representatives outlined a number of 2006
challenges for CNIDAH. On strategic planning, they hope to
institute a timetable to finalize the current strategic plan
and streamline future planning efforts. They discussed the
growing role of commercial operators in Angola and the need
to help CNIDAH strengthen its quality assurance mechanisms to
ensure that these operators are meeting humanitarian
standards. Also, they noted CNIDAH,s need to prove its
value added by completing the strategic plan and providing
quality assurance.
EFIRD