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 
 
¶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