Save the Children (UK) Angola : family tracing and reunification programme[, Angola] -- final report, [1 July 1999-31 July 2002]

Report examines chiefly the last 6 months of program implementation (1-7/02). By means of FTRP, the Ministry of Social Assistance and Reintegration (MINARS) identified more than 18,000 separated children in 3 years. Some 7,800 children (41% of all those registered) were able to return to their families, and another 6,700 (35%) found foster families. FTRP ensured a first response to the humanitarian crisis that unfolded directly after the end of the hostilities in 3/02. Despite numerous constraints, the program was the most important social protection instrument for children affected by the consequences of the conflict in Angola. The humanitarian crisis presented a two-fold challenge. The caseload of separated children increased 25% over the previous semester, and the geography of child separation changed dramatically. In pursuit of the best interest of the child, SC provided direct technical and material assistance to MINARS provincial teams and to local child protection networks from 3/02 on. SC/UK"s direct engagement at provincial level was part of overall efforts to outline a new partnership between MINARS and SC/UK. SC/UK clarified that hand-over of management responsibilities to the ministry did not mean withdrawal from a common initiative with MINARS on child protection. SC/UK"s engagement with provincial networks followed an appraisal of the new challenges confronting MINARS. The accessibility of most of the country had led to new demands for the provincial teams, tasked with responses to protection issues arising in distant municipalities and previously inaccessible communes. Increased vulnerability among children and their families, coupled with momentous population shifts, impinged on MINARS"s ability to trace family members and link them up with registered children. Although the number of reunions grew significantly in the first semester of 2002, reunited children dropped from 55% to 41% of the registered ones. Fostering -- supervised and spontaneous -- expanded to become the primary answer to immediate protection needs of separated children. Protection issues related to fostering had been identified since the onset of the crisis. An expansion of fostering would require additional supervision and monitoring. The exponential growth of demands on MINARS provincial teams made it impossible to ensure adequate follow-up for children placed in fostering families. Actually, the number of follow-up visits increased remarkably (26%), but supervision and monitoring of individual children dropped sharply. The experience of the former demobilization process suggested that a network of social structures with community-level contacts might integrate MINARS national and provincial organizations in tackling widespread child protection needs. Serious social protection problems brought about by the demobilization process, the extreme vulnerability of girls, the escalation of sexual and gender-based violence, concerns about refugee children soon to be repatriated, and the array of questions raised by large internal migrations define the new scenario. They emphasize the child protection role of social networks with roots in the local communities. (Author abstract, modified)