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Angola has been immersed in a destructive and violent conflict for almost three decades. The
intensity and duration of the armed conflict in Angola has led to the total collapse of the moral
fibre of society. This state of affairs has resulted in the inculcation of a culture of violence,
breakdown of community and administrative structures as well as the destruction of essential means
of economic survival.
As part of our contribution to ensure lasting peace and national reconciliation, the work of
Angola 2000 is sub-divided into the following program areas:
- Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration
The Desarmament, demobilisation and reintegration program of Angola is a key component
of the overall Angola 2000 strategy to create a conducive climate for social, economic
and political development. The program has been running for the past two years and has
focussed on the following projects:
The Arms Management and Disarmament
The prevention, management and eradication of all factors that threaten the well-being and
safety of Angolans is a prerequisite for the normalization of the social, economic and
political life of the nation. Realizing this urgency of the situation Angola 2000 launched
on May 10, 2002-exactly a month after the signing of the ceasefire agreement- The Initiative
to prepare Angolan Civil Society and Government to engage in an Arms Management and
Disarmament Process to accompany Existing National, Regional and International Peace
Initiatives in Southern Africa. This innitiative was a joint project involving Angola
2000 as the implementing agency and SaferAfrica assisting with the overall coordination
and management as well as provinding the necessary technical support for the project.
The project was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of
Germany and took place between May 1 and December 31, 2002 (8 months).
Since then the project has benefitted tremendously from the generous support from GTZ-German
Technical Assistance and Cooperation commencing December 2002 and has continued under the
auspieces of the Arms Management and Disarmament Project in Angola . Currently, the project
is also being supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland. The following
activities have been implemented:
- Organized and facilitated training workshops in the following five provinces of Angola, namely: Benguela, Huambo, Kwanza Sul, Luanda and Malanje. In this regard the project is now being expanded in to the eleven municipalities of the Province of Huambo as well as six municipality in Kwanza Sul.
- Trained at least 200 community surveyors and conducted socio-economic/security populational surveys covering almost six thousand respondents. The surveys were conducted in all the above mentioned provinces and the results have been published and distributed widely.
- Produced and distributed two major publications on the results of the surveys and its analysis by a team of highly experienced researchers and writers under the titles: FOR A BETTER FUTURE - November 2002, Jefferson Clare, Mufor Atanga and John Rocha; and Small Arms and Light Weapons: Perspectives for Peace, Security and Development-August 2003, Jefferson Clare and John Rocha . These publications received wide coverage from the print and electronic media, both national and international, and are a major source of reference on the disarmament process in Angola .
- Since May 2002, the project has undertaken an intensive education and public awareness campaign covering door to door visits, theatre, seminars, workshops, newspapers, radio and television across the nation. This campaign has increased the levels of awareness across all sectors of society and continues to make a major contribiution towards the development and implementation of a national strategy to deal with the issue of small arms and light weapons.
- The project has also engaged and will continue to engage extensively with Government institutions, political parties, churches, traditional authorities, non-governmental organizations-national and international-and communities.
In general the Arms Management and Disarmament Project seeks to achieve the following objectives:
- Undertake education and public awareness campaigns across all sectors of society about the need and importance for arms management and disarmament of the civilian population;
- Conduct research and survey in order to assist in the development of adequate and sustainable strategies to manage and resolve the problem of small arms and light weapons;
- Promote and faciltate the training and capacity building of all relevant stakeholders;
- To develop and implement micro-development projects to serve as incentives for the disarament of the civilian population;
- Promote, encourage and facilitate the improvement in the relationship between the police/military and communities;
- Promote and facilitate the creation of multi-sectorial and multi-disciplinary structures at national, provincial and local level to serve as platforms for joint action;
- Promote and support the process for the development and implementation of the National Action Plan on Arms Management and Disarmament.
In addition Angola 2000 has participated in numerous regional, continental and international workshops or conferences aimed at finding a viable solution for armas management and disarmament and this include:
- African Meeting of Experts on the Illicit Traficking, Proliferation and Misuse of Small Arms and Lightweapons organized by the OAU in Addis Abeba, July 2001.
- Disarmament & Re-integration: enhancing prospects for long-term success, Geneva , November 2002.
- Namibia National Conference on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Windhoek , September 2002.
- Mozambique Information Collection Conference on the Establishment of National Action Plan , Mozambique , March 2003
- SADC-European Union Meeting on Small Arms and Lightweapons, Brussels , April 2001 and November 2002.
- Tackling Poverty by Reducing Armed Violence-Wilton Park , London , April 2003-11-17.
- United Nations Biennial Meeting on the Implementation of the UNPoA, New York , July 2003.
The development and implementation of a National Action Plan remains one of the most critical
issues in dealing with small arms light weapons at present. For this reason the next 12-18 months will be of critical importance for Angola 2000 and its partners as additional efforts and resources will have to be utilized to mobilize all stakeholders around the need for a coordinated, integrated and sustainable innitiative towards the eradication of the SALW problem in Angola .
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- Peace Education and conflict Resolution
Alternatives for Violence Project
The Alternatives for Violence Project initiated in Johannesburg , South Africa when a
group of Angola 2000 members were first introduced to the AVP methodogy by AVP South Africa. In total
about fourty young men and women participated in the introductory workshops which served as a basis
establishing the first pool of AVP facilitators in Angola once the war was over.
As a result of this the AVP methodology was introduced formally in Angola in November 2002 through an
initial project funded by the Open Society Innitiative for Southern Africa which aimed to achieve the
following objectives:
- To prepare a critical mass of facilitators to be in position to take the AVP methodology into the field in Angola ;
- Create an opportunity for individuals, organizations and communities to internalize the culture of peace;
- Mobilize communities to take pro-active action to consolidate and sustain the peace within communities;
- Cease the moment brought about by the signing of the ceasefire agreement to introduce gradually the AVP methodology in Angola and lay the foundation for greater Angola 2000 interventions in transforming our society.
The AVP methodology seeks to assist Angolan communities to understand, adapt, develop and
implement alternative methods of settling disputes, promote the culture of peace and improve
civil society participation in post-conflict reconstruction. The project also seeks to
enhance the process of democratization and development in Angola by creating an environment
for fruitfull human relations and improve the levels of tolerance between individuals,
communities and society in general.
Since the beginning of the Alternative for Violence Project in Angola a total of 240
individuals representing about 20 organizations have benefitted from this project. The
relevance of this project for a country like Angola lies in the fact that the AVP
methodology allows participants to learn non-violent means of settling disputes by
drawing and sharing from their practical experiences. This unique experiences has affords
all participants an opportunity to come to terms with their experiences-in time- and also
teaches them issues such as leadership skills, team building and community building. The
most important aspect is the fact that participants are given an opportunity to become
facilitators by participating in a training for trainers workshop, which then provides
them with the opportunity to function under an experienced facilitators until they
qualify to become part of the facilitator teams.
The last workshops of this project was carried out in August 2003 and efforts are now
underway to raise additional funds to enable us to continue. The other alternative would
be to integrate the AVP methodology into the Arms Management and Disarmament Project as
part of an holistic approach to peace building and national reconciliation.
There is no doubt that the first phase of the AVP has achieved great success in Angola.
All participants remain adamant that it is an effective methodology for a people who have
been subjected to years of violence and abuse, and could be utilise as an effective
weapon to rebuild communities by introdusing it into schools, prisons, former combatants
and traumatized people.
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- Democracy and Governance
Despite the fact that Angola is considered to be a truly democratic country based on the
rule of law, in reality, the democratization process leaves much to be desired. Regardless
of the question the legitimacy of our institutions, the marginalization of large parts of
the population from the national political discourse and the absence of a truly democratic
culture across all sectors of society, as represented by the break-ups within political
parties and the lack of freedom of expression in many provinces with the exception of
Luanda, indicates that democracy, good governance, tolerance, respect for human rights,
equality before the law and the active participation of all citizens in the political
processes remains a distant dream in the lives of many Angolans. Therefore, Angola 2000
in partnership with the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA) is engaged in
building the capacity of civil society organizations through the Organizational Development
Support Project for sixteen NGO's.
This project was initiated in November 2002 and in March 2003, sixteen leaders representing
the sixteen participating NGO's attending a two week leadership training program in
Pretoria , South Africa . Through a series of meetings and planning workshops a eighteen
month capacity building project has been developed and is beeing funded jointly by Sweden
and Norway . The purpose of this project is to strengthen and build the capacity of the
sixteen carefully selected NGO's so that they can play a more meaningfull role in the
unfolding political process. The sixteen leaders will all constitute a Project Steering
Committee and this committee will also serve for general discussions about pertinent
issues affecting the nations and will, therefore, act as a perfect platform for broadening
the political debate and better coordination of activities among the various coordinators.
The project requires participating organizations to apply what they learn to their
organizations and a team of experienced coaching or mentoring personnel will be established
to advise and assist organizations in maximizing their outputs.
It is also the intention of Angola 2000 to pay particular attention the need to develop
and build the capacity of local administrations. As an organization centered around the
issue of peace and security, it is imperative that our efforts also focus on this area
since failure to do so will have serious repercussions on our ability to guarantee peace
and security for the population. Our approach in this regard is to deal with the issue of
democracy and governance in manner that will enhance human interactions at all levels of
society and consequently, lead to improved provision of basic services, participative
democracy as well as peace and security. We believe that by acting in such a manner
ordinary citizens will be encouraged to become responsible members of society and behave
in a manner that does not disturb the peace.
Another issue that this program wishes to address is the electoral process since it will
be a determining factor on whether communities enjoy the rights and freedoms enshrined in
the Constitution. The objective here is to use the electoral process as a vehicle to
promote peaceful means of transforming society and ensure that the necessary mechanisms
are in place to deal with real or potential conflict situations in the pre-and post-electoral
period.
The main elements here are:
- Establsih and coordinate electoral monitoring teams;
- Establish mechanisms for the prevention and resolution of conflicts;
- Promote the spirit of tolerance and freedom of expression;
- Monitor languages or conduct that might endanger the electoral process and recommend corrective measures.
The main purpose of the overall Angola 2000 strategy is to monitor, study and investigate in act or
conduct, whether in words or practice, which might endanger the good of society.
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- Information
The information program of Angola 2000 is an integral part of the overall Angola 2000 strategy. The main objective of this program is to act as the focal point for information gathering and dissemination.
The main products are the following:
- Produce the quarterly newsletter of Angola 2000
- Maintain the Angola 2000 website
- Design and produce Angolan 2000 public education and awareness raising materials
- Organize and coordinate the research activities of Angola 2000 in support of the various projects
- Development and maintenance of the Angola 2000 resource center in support of the various Angola 2000 projects and related aspects
- Social and Economic Development
This program is aimed at building the capacity of local communities to deal with the social
and economic challenges of community building and development. The purpose is to to link the
social and economic development of local communities as a prerequisite for peaceful human
co-existence and democracy.
Another important aspect that the program seeks to address is the question of incentives for disarmament and the need to assist communities to develop micro-development projects for disarmament. This specialized unit will deal with all the technical aspects of community development.
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