War and survival in southern Angola : the UNITA assessment mission

In October 1989, a team representing the U.S. Government and three U.S PVO's assessed the status of the civilian population in two extremely isolated areas of Angola, Moxico and Cuando Cubango Provinces, both of which are controlled by the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The assessors covered an area of some 30,000 square miles, surveying 53 villages and interviewing more than 1,500 UNITA officials, village elders, health workers, agricultural specialists, farmers, and mothers of small children. Nutritional examinations were performed on over 1,300 young children. This report on the assessment highlights the extreme difficulties faced by the population, which is at serious risk of death from preventable diseases (malaria, childhood diarrhea, and vaccine preventable diseases). Due to wartime conditions, almost nothing is available to prevent or treat these diseases, and 51% of the 1,282 mothers surveyed have lost at least one child to disease, with 25% of all conceptions lost before 10 years of age. Moreover, 42% of 1,314 children surveyed were found to be malnourished. While the agricultural survey found adequate arable land and water for subsistence food production, seeds and farm tools are in extremely short supply, and the provinces' meager stores of grain and seed are infested with insects. The report includes logistical, technical, and political recommendations for providing specific types of humanitarian aid to the populations of the two provinces.