COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIALAND CULTURAL RIGHTSForty-first sessionGeneva, 3-21 November 2008

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIESIN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 16 OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

Replies by the Government of Angola* to the list of issuesto be taken up in connection with the consideration of the third periodic report of Angola

[26 September 2008]

I.General framework within which the InternationalCovenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rightsis implemented

Question 1.Please clarify why the provisions of the Covenant have not been incorporated into the domestic law of the State party to make them directly applicable in Angolan courts. Please provide examples of cases in which individuals have invoked economic, social and cultural rights before the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court. What steps are being taken to ensure that victims of violations of economic, social and cultural rights have access to effective judicial remedies, and that court orders and judgements are being enforced?(HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, para. 32)

1.Article 21 No. 2 of the Constitutional Law (CL) establishes that constitutional and statutory human rights clauses must be interpreted and harmoniously incorporated into the international instruments of which Angola is a member. No. 3 of the same article requires the courts of Angola to apply the international instruments, even if parties have not invoked them, and in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), as well as other instruments that have become part of the Angolan legal order because the State of Angola ratified them.

Question 2.Please also provide more detailed information on the role of the Ninth Committee of the National Assembly, the Committee on Human Rights. Can it hear complaints about alleged violations of economic, social, and cultural rights? Please also provide more detailed information on the Office of Human Rights of the Ministry of Justice and the Provincial Human Rights Committees, and whether the inadequacy of facilities and human resources has been addressed (HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, paras. 42-43)

2.The 9th Committee of the National Assembly deals with matters related to human rights, petitions, complaints and suggestions from the citizens, and it performs the following role:

(a)It receives and processes complaints, petitions and suggestions submitted by the citizens, prior to evaluation by the plenary session of the National Assembly;

(b)It receives and forwards complaints or grievances that violate the political, economic, social and cultural rights of the citizens to the various central or local entities of the State, including the courts, for proper processing; the courts process them as they analyze the issue and they provide information about the results to the citizens who are involved;

(c)It checks and monitors government actions in the area of human rights;

(d)It issues opinions on draft laws.

3.The number of complaints is to be inserted. How many did you send?

4.From 2002 to 2007, in close cooperation with the other eight working committees of the National Assembly, it has issued opinions regarding:

(a)The law on the exercise of freedom of conscience, worship and religion;

(b)The law on HIV/AIDS;

(c)Laws on the electoral process, namely the Nationality Act, the Election Observation Act, the Political Parties Act and the Election Register Act;

(d)The Cultural Heritage Act;

(e)The Social Protection Basic Act;

(f)The First Job Basic Act;

(g)The Law on Associations in Defense of the Environment;

(h)The Organic Law on the Office of the Ombudsman;

(i)The Media Act;

(j)The Law on Amnesty for All Crimes against State Security and All Crimes Committed by National Citizens in the Internal Conflict in Cabinda Province;

(k)The Law on the Legal Regime for Aliens;

(l)The Housing Development Act.

5.The statistical data is to be inserted.

6.The Ministry of Justice created the Office of Human Rights in 1996 for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights, training activists in society, and training the national police and other bodies that work in the area of human rights, in order to expand the fundamental rights of the individual.

7.While the armed conflict was raging, the Provincial Human Rights Committees were created in 1997 by the Ministry of Justice with the support of the United Nations Office for Human Rights in Angola, for the purpose of promoting, protecting and defending the rights of the individual, serving as a link between the governmental entities responsible for the administration of justice and the citizens, without interfering with the competencies of the judicial entities.

8.In pursuing its goals, it is involved in the following:

(a)Promotion of activities - it disseminates human rights and existing legislation through television and radio programs, newsletters, lectures in the communities, staging theatrical plays, and training activists;

(b)Protection of activities - it provides guidance to the citizens on how to guarantee their human rights, receives and reviews complaints from persons whose human rights are violated and forwards them to the competent authorities. It supports the government in resolving conflicts and in the national reconciliation process.

9.As soon as the situation permits, the government plans to create a data entry and processing system, in an effort to control and manage the complaints that are received and forwarded, as well as statistical processing, which includes the disaggregation of numbers and comparisons by period, to measure the impact the activities of these units have.

10.The Provincial Human Rights Committees are government bodies with administrative authority. In terms of methodology, they fall under the Office of Human Rights of the Ministry of Justice, coordinated by the Provincial Justice Directors, whose members are:

(a)The Presiding Judge of the Provincial Court (Observer);

(b)The Provincial Prosecutor (Observer);

(c)The Provincial Chief of the National Police;

(d)INAC representatives;

(e)MINFAMU representatives;

(f)MINARS representatives;

(g)Representatives of the former soldiers and war veterans;

(h)The traditional authorities;

(i)Churches;

(j)Non-governmental organizations;

(k)Activists;

(l)Representatives of the political parties that have seats in Parliament.

11.Not having their own facilities continues to be a constraint for the Provincial Human Rights Committees in performing their activities, although the government is making an effort to include the construction of local buildings in the Public Investment Program, which has already resulted in building the headquarters of the Lunda Norte Provincial Committee.

Question 3.Please elaborate about the Association Act – Law 14/91 and Decree-Law No. 84/02 governing civil society and the status of its review (HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, paras. 78, 84). How far can the Technical Unit for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance coordinate and control domestic and international human rights non-governmental organizations and does the State party foresee a review of its mandate (para. 81 (c))? Please also provide information on the cooperation and partnerships established between the State party and non-governmental organizations for the implementation of economic, social, and cultural rights

12.Article 6 of Decree 30/98 of September 11, which enacted the Organic Law of the Technical Unit for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UTCAH), establishes the competency of this entity to raise the awareness of the national and international community for applying for non-repayable grants, as well as the monitoring, oversight, coordination, evaluation and inspection of all programs to assist the people that are implemented by the United Nations Agencies, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations.

13.UTCAH was created out of the need to respond to the emergency situation in the context of the armed conflict. This mission was carried out with success, but it has not yet adjusted to the post-conflict context. For the purpose of revising it, some proposals have already been made and submitted to the government for approval. The government will make a decision in turn on a new organic structure with different competencies that can be adjusted to the context.

14.The non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are potential government partners and perform a major role of complementarity in carrying out government programs, contributing to the stabilization of the people’s lives in terms of their social, economic and cultural development.

15.The main purpose of the cooperation and partnerships between the government and the NGOs is:

(a)To strengthen and build the capacities of the national organizations and other entities of civil society that serve as local partners in the context of strengthening government activities in order to improve the lives of the people and provide basic health, education, and HIV/AIDS prevention services, among others;

(b)To contribute to maximizing the goals of the general government program for public investment, job promotion, economic growth, poverty reduction, and equality in the distribution of the benefits of development;

(c)To strengthen the democratic framework, good governance and community development.

16.In 2001, the government approved Decree 1/01 of January 5, which established the provisions that guided the resettlement or organized and voluntary return of displaced persons to their areas of origin. The regulations for these provisions were established by Decree 79/02 of December 6.

Question 4.Please provide information on the concrete measures taken to eradicate corruption and nepotism, including within the judiciary. Please provide information on the number of prosecutions and convictions of high-level officials in corruption cases during the period 2005-2007

17.To strengthen the fight against corruption, the government adopted a series of measures, namely:

(a)Preparation of a new Code of Ethics for Magistrates;

(b)Strengthening the inspection capacity of the Attorney General of the Republic;

(c)Strengthening disciplinary measures for the Order of Attorneys;

(d)Supporting the implementation of the High Authority against Corruption;

(e)Strengthening the judicial inspection capacities of the Supreme Court and the General Council of Judges.

There are no statistics on the process for fighting corruption or information on the operation of the High Authority against Corruption.

Question 5.Please provide information on the steps taken to ensure that the revenues gained from the exploitation of high-yield natural resources, such as oil and diamonds, are used to promote the realization of economic, social, and cultural rights for the population at large. What are the measures taken to ensure that the local communities in which extraction takes place receive a fair share of these revenues?

18.The revenue from the exploitation of petroleum and diamonds is included in the National Accounts as demonstrated below. They contribute significantly to public investments, reconstruction, as well as the country’s economic and social development.

National Accounting Figures(in thousands of current dollars)

Economic Sectors	2004	2005	2006
Agriculture, forestry, livestock and fisheries	1 708 872.9	2 602 745.4	3 207 010.9
Petroleum and refined products	9 855 596.3	17 038 903.1	23 382 668.5
Diamonds and others	716 615.5	884 694.8	950 666.3
Processing industry	792 086.3	1 240 843.7	2 014 551.9
Electrical energy and water	7 793.8	30 264.5	38 456.3
Public works and construction	745 083.9	1 240 843.7	1 809 849.8
Trade, Banks, Insurance and Services	3 154 316.5	4 509 407.8	6 227 492.2
Others	1 534 652.3	2 723 803.3	3 307 686.1
GDP	18 515 017.5	30 264 481.5	40 938 381.9
GDP in millions of kwanza	1 544.9	2 445.3	3 289.2
Non-petroleum GDP	8 659 421.2	13 225 578.4	17 555 713.4
Per capita GDP (dollars)	1 264.6	1 984.8	2 565.6

Structure of the National Economy(in percentages)

Economic Sectors	2004	2005	2006
Agriculture, forestry, livestock and fisheries	9.1	8.6	7.8
Petroleum and refined products	52.6	56.3	57.1
Diamonds and others	5.0	2.9	2.3
Processing industry	4.2	4.1	4.9
Electric energy and water	0.0	0.1	0.1
Public works and construction	4.0	4.1	4.4
Trade, Banks, Insurance and Services	16.8	14.9	15.2
Others	8.2	9.0	8.1
GDP	100.0	100.0	100.0
Non-petroleum GDP	42.4	41.8	40.6

19.Tax revenue from oil operations is predominant in the tax system structure and accounts for more than 80% of the total amount of public revenue. However, in the medium term, it is expected that tax payments from agriculture, fishing, processing, etc., will help lower this dependency. In comparative terms, tax revenue rose in 2006 by over 38% as the price of oil continued to rise, which ultimately offset the decrease in oil production in 2006.

20.The social function of the general state budget in 2006 was executed to an extent similar to 2005. All the social sectors combined accounted for about 29% of total government spending in any of those years, symbolizing the government’s ongoing support for improving the people’s social conditions. This importance that the general government program places on the components more directly related to improving the people’s living conditions is confirmed by the execution of the Public Investment Program. Actually, the social sectors received about 28.3% public investments of total PIP, and housing, community services, health and education were clearly predominant.

Question 6.Please provide information on the mandate and the financial independence of the Office of the Ombudsman, as well as its compliance with the Paris Principles (HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, paras. 49-50)

21.The Ombudsman is an independent public entity that defends the citizens’ rights, freedoms and guarantees. Though informal means, it ensures justice and the legality of the public administration.

22.The citizens submit complaints to the Ombudsman for acts or omissions of the authorities that it evaluates without decision-making authority, and it sends the necessary recommendations to the competent bodies to prevent and right injustices.

23.The work of the Ombudsman is independent of amicable and court-based settlements provided for in the Constitutional Law and other laws.

24.The other functions of the Ombudsman are established in Law 4/06 of April 28.[1] Article 30 No. 2 of the law provides the mandate to monitor and implement the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and to receive notices for defending them.

25.The Ombudsman was appointed by the National Assembly for a four-year term, renewable for one additional four-year term; the Ombudsman is installed before the President of the National Assembly.

26.The Ombudsman submits an activity report to the National Assembly twice a year. The report must include the initiatives taken, the complaints received, the diligence performed and the results obtained, and the annual report must include the settlement of accounts.

27.To address the matter of his competency, the Ombudsman may take part in the work of the standing committees of the National Assembly whenever he is requested to do so.

28.The Office of the Ombudsman has an annual autonomous budget prepared according to the respective organic law and it must be included in an amount to be entered in the National Assembly budget, which is managed directly by an Administrative Council, notwithstanding the statutory stipulation on auditing by the Audit Office.

Question 7.Please provide the Committee with the data gathered in the survey by the National Statistics Institute on the overall living conditions of the population. Please also provide information on any concrete preparations undertaken to carry out a census since the last one took place in 1972 (HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, paras. 5-6)

29.The Survey on Core Welfare Indicators (QUIBB), for which data was collected throughout the country in the period between November 2005 and April 2006, provided the following information on households and the principal characteristics:

Average household size: 4.8 persons

Average number of members per household: urban 5.3; rural 4.3

Percentage of households headed by a woman: 22.8%

Percentage of female heads of households who are illiterate: 57.7%

Percentage of households with access to drinking water: 38.0%

Percentage of households that treat water for drinking: 22%

Percentage of households with access to basic sanitation: 66.8%

Percentage of housing units that have no bedrooms: 4.5%

Percentage of housing units that have only one bedroom: 52.3%

Percentage of housing units that have adobe walls: 50%

Percentage of housing units that have cement/brick: 32.8%

Percentage of housing units that have a straw-covered hard-pack floor: 60.8%

Percentage of housing units with zinc-plated roofing: 52.9%

Percentage of main sources of energy used by households for lighting: oil 49.2%, electricity 22.2%, and candles 15.9%

Percentage of main sources of energy used by households for cooking: firewood 37.0%, butane gas 32.0%, charcoal 25.8%

Percentage of households that have at least: one radio 57.8%, a gas range 34.8%,a television set 33.5%

30.Preparatory activities carried out to perform the General Census of the Population and Housing:

Government involvement was clarified;

The duties of the National Statistics Council and Census Coordinatorwere identified;

Census mapping;

Statutory instruments for supporting conducting the census;

Counseling for the best period in which to carry out the census.

31.As part of the project to update and automate the census mapping base of Angola, man consulting and training activities were carried out, i.e.:

An aerial photogrammetric survey of the cities of Luanda and Caxito;

Satellite images were acquired for 51 cities;

Computer and mapping equipment was acquired for digitalization and vectorization of the census mapping base;

A contract was made with a permanent project technical advisor to evaluate the technical staff of the INE for implementing the mapping update project.

Question 8.Please provide information on any steps undertaken to adopt less restrictive laws regarding access to public information (Freedom of Information Act)

32.Article 50 of the Constitutional Law establishes that the “State must create the political, economic and cultural conditions necessary for the citizens to be able to effectively enjoy their rights and fully perform their duties.” For the citizens to be able to fully perform their duties, they must be informed in a non-restrictive statutory framework.

33.Article 32 No. 1 guarantees freedom of expression for citizens. The manner in which this right is exercised is regulated by the Media Act and other statutory instruments that guarantee freedom of information and obtaining information without any restriction or discrimination.

34.The Law guarantees that freedom of the press must not be subject to any censorship, be it political, ideological or artistic. The means by which the social communication companies or entities disseminate their content include but are not limited to newspapers, including online journals, magazines, and all other publications, radio and television broadcasts, news agencies, films and public venues where documentaries and news programs are shown.

35.Thus, through the legal instruments, the State fully guarantees freedom of the press and information with a fundamental right of the citizens as a genuine service in the public interest exercised by its professionals and shared by all the citizens.

36.As an independent body, the National Social Communication Council is tasked with ensuring the objectivity and impartiality of information, and safeguarding freedom of expression and thought in the press, in accordance with the rights granted in the Constitution and in the law.

Question 9.Please provide information on the allocation of the State budget to education, health and other social services in comparison with allocations to the security sector, such as the military, for the past ten years (HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, para. 159)

37.As the table below shows, appropriations to the social sector have been increasing gradually compared to defense and public policy.

Comparison of Changes in Appropriations to the Social, National Defenseand Security, and Public Order Sectors

“General Government Budget - GGB”

Allocated amount (kwanzas)
Sectors	2004	%	2005	%	2006	%
T otal of the GGB/YEAR	956 229 554 186.00	100	2 176 922 260 474.00	100	2 503 887 060 119.00	100
Education	68 317 398 260.00	7.14	83 057 400 341.00	3.82	140 394 653 720.00	5.61
Health	47 495 306 077.00	4.97	96 171 680 163.00	4.42	92 149 784 126.00	3.68
Security Social Assistance	61 836 883 137.00	6.47	210 354 100 553.00	9.66	266 133 596 128.00	10.63
Culture and Sports	3 150 862 277.00	0.33	5 371 754 826.00	0.25	16 018 175 318.00	0.64
Housing and Community Services	39 458 544 288.00	4.13	141 782 963 892.00	5.51	188 121 112 774.00	7.51
S ubtotal	220 258 994 039.00	23.04	536 737 899 775.00	23.66	702 817 322 066.00	28.07
National Defense	103 583 909 568.00	10.83	127 484 971 072.00	5.86	172 328 952 525.00	6.88
Security and Public Policy	67 977 552 787.00	7 .1	143 925 930 326.00	6.61	146 069 712 119.00	5.83
S ubtotal	171 561 462 355.00	17.94	271 410 901 398.00	12.47	318 398 664 644.00	12.71

II.Issue relating to the General Provisionsof the covenant (arts. 1 to 5)

Question 10.Please provide information on the mechanisms in place to ensure the fulfillment of the economic, social and cultural rights of the most disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups, when the State party negotiates and ratifies bilateral and multilateral trade, investment and other economic agreements

38.The systems created to serve the most disadvantaged individuals and groups are linked to the legislation and existing regulatory environment, as well as the establishment of public policies and strategies.

39.The highlights of the legislation are:

(a)The Constitutional Law:Article 21 addresses the rights under the laws and the applicable rules of international law, either directly or through the interpretation and closing gaps in this law and the regular legislation according to the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man, the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, and the other international instruments that Angola has adopted;

(b)Law 18/90 on Social Security, which has a series of provisions that deal with the vulnerability of disadvantaged persons.

40.The highlights of the policies and strategies are:

(a)Universalization of access to preventive health and primary care, for the purpose of improving the health of the most disadvantaged groups of the population;

(b)The Education for All Policy, which aims to universalize access to quality mandatory primary education;

(c)The Strategy to Fight Poverty ,which began shortly after the peace accords were signed in 2002 with the purpose of lowering the incidence of poverty by 50% by the year 2015, with programs scheduled in six main areas of intervention:

Economic and institutional reforms, particularly for public finances and State administration, for the purpose of fostering macroeconomic stability and sustainable development;

Development of human capital, by strengthening and restructuring vocational training as well as by increasing and upgrading access to health and education services;

Rehabilitation of the basic social and economic infrastructures, namely: water supply, housing, electricity, transportation and communications;

Promotion of Food Security and Rural Development by strengthening the production capacities of the traditional food crop and small-scale fishing sector, as well as rural commerce and micro and small businesses, focusing on developing and supporting the private sector;

Strengthening the capacity and institutional efficiency of the public sector, including the deconcentration and decentralization of the public administration to levels closer to the communities;

The Demining Program, to enable persons and goods to circulate so that the lives of the people and economic and social activity return to normal;

(d)The Rural Development Policy , which seeks to decrease the regional asymmetries and create opportunities for families;

(e)The Food Security Policy, which aims to enable families to be self-sufficient in food based on local agricultural and livestock production.

Question 11.Please provide information on any special measures taken by the State party during the period 2002-2007 to protect the economic, social and cultural rights of internally displaced persons and returnees, in particular the rights to health, food, housing and education

41.As the armed conflict ended, the government implemented a series of measures so that roughly four million displaced Angolans and 400,000 refugees could return to their communities of origin. Programs are in progress to fully implement the strategies for resettling them, as well as the social reintegration of former soldiers.

42.Regarding the reintegration of poor families in the two-year period from 2005 to 2006, the government has:

(a)Reintegrated 667,336 families who have taken advantage of community development projects;

(b)Assisted one million persons who are in a situation of vulnerability;

(c)Implemented socio-economic reintegration projects, which have served 658,766 families;

(d)Distributed zinc paneling for the roofs of houses built under the “Managed Construction” Project for 8,640 families.

43.Regarding the return and resettlement of displaced persons, the following activities have been carried out:

(a)The program for reintegrating displaced persons affected directly by the armed conflict, covering 61,659 persons;

(b)The Angolan refugee repatriation program, which has assisted 426,952 persons;

(c)The program to assist persons who have returned and been resettled, with these activities: promotion of equal opportunities for persons with disabilities and incentives for integrating them into the community; demobilization and social reintegration of former soldiers through several programs, namely training and vocational retraining programs.

Question 12.Please provide information on the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights by ethnic groups, including the San people. In the absence of data on ethnic minorities, how does the State party ensure the implementation of article 18 of the Constitutional Law (HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, para. 114)?

44.In accordance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 18 of the CL enshrines the right to equality and non-discrimination as fundamental principles of the democratic State. It also provides that the law severely punishes all acts that seek to interfere with social harmony or create discrimination and privileges based on these factors.

45.This constitutional provision covers all the citizens, including those who are members of ethnic groups, as well as the Khoi-San people. Belonging to an ethnic group does not constitute a condition that limits the rights of any citizen, whether they belong to minority groups or not.

46.Persons who belong to minority ethnic communities are normally integrated into society and are eligible for the services of the educational and teaching systems, as well as health and social protection and assistance, rural and/or urban development, culture and recreation, sports, and all other community and social activities without any type of discrimination.

47.The efforts made by the government and society are increasingly obvious and are visible signs of returning to the framework that is gradually becoming of benefit to the citizens of the most disadvantaged or vulnerable groups in the periurban, rural and minority communities, enabling access to basic social services.

Question 13. Please provide information on the concrete measures taken to eliminate gender inequalities, including with regard to the rights to education and work (HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, paras. 93-94 and 121-126). Please also indicate the measures taken by the State party since 2002 to prevent and combat discrimination against women in the areas of marriage, divorce, inheritance, property and citizenship. What measures are being taken to ensure that the right of women to the equal enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights is not compromised by discriminatory customary laws and practices? Please also provide more detailed information on the Extension and Rural Development Program for women and on the effectiveness of the Strategy for Empowering Women (paras. 126-127)

48.Article 18 of the CL enshrines the right to equality and non-discrimination as fundamental principles of the democratic State. It further provides that the law severely punishes all acts that seek to interfere with social harmony or create discrimination and privileges based on these factors. This constitutional provision covers all the citizens.

49.Non-discrimination, as one of the fundamental principles of the democratic State established in the CL, in accordance with the international legal instruments that Angola has adopted, is the basis for promoting economic, social and cultural solidarity among all the regions of the Republic of Angola, seeking to ensure the harmonious development of the entire Nation of Angola. This constitutional principle serves as a legal basis for one of the government’s current and future priorities, which is to gradually eliminate the disadvantages faced by the citizens who live in the country’s less developed urban and rural areas, with an impact on the territories of the ethnic minority communities.

50.Some special programs in the area of transhumance seem to arise from the necessity of providing access to social services, namely education and health, for children of nomad communities in the provinces of Namibe, Huíla and Cunene.

51.The enactment of the Basic Education System Law No. 13/01, adjusted to the current Educational Reform Program, streamlines the structure of the education system. It phases in changes in curricula to ensure quality education so that, among other things, it will be possible to adopt the 2006-2015 Literacy Training and Failure Recovery Strategy.

52.Regarding the reduction of illiteracy in the country and the implementation of the Ministry of Education’s Literacy Training and Failure Recovery Program in partnership with UNICEF, the sector’s indicators were positive. In Luanda the enrollment rate is over 30,000 persons for the 2007 school year, including persons who are 15 years of age or older. The program aims to accelerate learning using self-teaching and the certification of skills acquired in various contexts of formal and non-formal education. Using this method, in several groups throughout the country, 80% of the students were able to learn to read and write in just three months.

53.Circular 19/SCM/ 2006 implemented the Strategic Plan for Implementing the 2007/2008 School Meal Program. The program aims to place the child in the center of educational attention. As references, it uses the importance of their physical and emotional stability, while promoting the future and development, keeping in mind that the struggle to reduce poverty begins with advocating for the child.

54.The government designed and is implementing the program and has allocated financial resources for 2007 for all the provinces. In 2007, the program covered the provinces of Cabinda, Luanda, Kuanza Sul, Huambo, Benguela Moxico, Bié and Uíge, and served 355,034 students in 454 schools. For 2008, there are plans to implement it throughout the entire country.

55.The basis for the General Government Program is in the Constitutional Law, and hence it supports any program that can protect any individual or social group from discrimination. Thus, discriminatory situations that arise from a series of historical and cultural factors are resolved by the joint efforts of the State, the government, and society in general; the National Policy for Family Advocacy and Gender Equality Guarantee, under the aegis of the Ministry of the Family and Women’s Empowerment (MINFAMU), has been instituted with objectivity for this purpose.

56.In addition to the information, awareness and education program on women’s rights, the MINFAMU, which also uses the national languages, audiovisual techniques and social communication entities in this work, has created other systems, such as the Family Counseling Centers, throughout the country, in order to provide legal assistance to victims whose rights are violated, to educate and inform the people on issues related to their rights and duties in order to strive for gender equality.

57.The Program to Fight Poverty, included in the strategy the government adopted, has highly comprehensive components which intervene in priority areas such as:

(a)Social reintegration, with direct results from the social reintegration model for the displaced persons, refugees and people in the areas directly affected by the conflict. It establishes guidelines, principles and support methodologies so that systems can be developed for management, support and assessment, and capacity-building for the implementing agencies of the municipalities and the provinces to manage and maintain the programs. It also develops effective models to support the communities to identify, select and manage community projects;

(b)Demining, which by 2006 projected achieved results that would normalize the situation, deactivating anti-personnel mines and other explosives throughout the country where there is farming potential, as well as locations near residential areas;

(c)Food security and rural development, with activities that include strengthening the production capacity of the traditional sector, and food crops and inland/small-scale fishing in particular, reactivating the rural trading systems, the sustainable development of natural resources, as well as unity and national consultation, and the participatory and ongoing dialogue;

(a)HIV/AIDS;

(b)Education;

(c)Health;

(d)Basic infrastructure;

(e)Employment and vocational training;

(f)Governance, including the judicial system, the public administration, deconcentration and decentralization, and fiscal planning and management;

(g)Macroeconomic management.

Question 14.Please provide more detailed information on measures taken by the State party since 2002 to increase the representation of women in Parliament and in senior government positions. Please indicate the number of women who have been appointed to the judiciary and to public service

58.Article 29, No. 1 and 2 of the Constitutional Law establishes that the family is the fundamental nucleus of the organization of society and is to be protected by the State, whether in marriage or a de facto union. Man and woman are equal in the family and enjoy the same rights and have the same duties.

59.In partnership with its social partners, the government is implementing the National Strategy and the Strategic Framework to Promote Gender Equality Based on the Beijing and Dakar Action Platform, approved by the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers in 2001.

60.In November 2001, after the special Beijing + 5 session, the government prepared the Strategy to Promote Gender Equality by 2005 (EPG) based on Project ANG/97/PO3, and the main themes are as follows: Poverty (economy, environment and natural resources); Education (education, information, communication, the arts, culture, socialization, the family, science and technology); Health (for children, adults and senior citizens); Citizen’s Rights (participation in the peace process, political emancipation, violence and gender); Rights of the Child; Data Disaggregated by Sex; and Institutional Mechanisms. To make the Strategy sustainable, the Council of Ministers approved a separate budget for 2003 for the project.

61.Implementing the Strategy involved public and private institutions, as well as non‑governmental organizations, with the following main activities: the ANG/97.PO3 Project - Support for Gender Issues and Women’s Empowerment, for the purpose of strengthening the MINFAMU’s institutional capacities at all levels, as well as a few national NGOs; the ANG/97/010 Project – Building Peace and Promoting Development Opportunities for Youth and Women, carried out in the period from May 1998 to October 2002.

62.To entrench equality between men and women, the government created the Ministry of the Family and Women’s Empowerment (MINFAMU), which deals with gender issues in the context of human rights, thereby fulfilling the requirement in National Assembly Resolution 9/02 of March 28 on Gender and Development.

63.Citizen participation in public life and access to political service is guaranteed by the CL and by a series of precepts in several statutes; it is a right that includes access to public functions in the country and the use of public goods and services with strict equality of everyone before the law.

64.The end of the armed conflict established the conditions for holding the second elections and for ensuring that they would be legal as determined by law. A legislative package ensures the active and passive participation of citizens entitled to vote in the legislative and presidential elections and establishes the conditions for the effective participation of citizens in public life. Basically, this is about the by 40% projected increase of women in the parliament and governmental bodies. To achieve this, the legislation recommends that all the political parties competing in the legislative elections of September 5, 2008 include the largest number of women candidates in order to reach these goals.

65.Cross-cutting and comprehensive gender programs are evident in parliamentary, judicial and governmental activities.

Representation in Parliament

	Year	Average (%)	Change (%)
	M	F	M	F
2004	83.6	16.4	-	-
2005	88.0	12.0	5.3	-26.8
2006	87.3	12.7	-0.8	5.8

Source: Ministry of the Family and Women’s Empowerment/Government Survey.

Central Government

	Year	Average (%)	Change (%)
	M	F	M	F
2004	87.0	13.0	-	-
2005	85.0	15.0	-13.8	15.4
2006	84.1	15.9	-1.1	6.0

Source: Ministry of the Family and Women’s Empowerment/Government Survey.

Local Government

	Year	Average (%)	Change (%)
	M	F	M	F
2004	98.9	1.1	-	-
2005	96.6	3.4	-2.3	209.1
2006	96.6	3.4	-	-

Source: Ministry of the Family and Women’s Empowerment/Government Survey.

Diplomacy

	Year	Average (%)	Change (%)
	M	F	M	F
2004	78.7	21.3	-	-
2005	78.1	21.9	-0.8	2.8
2006	77.4	22.6	-0.9	3.2

Source: Ministry of the Family and Women’s Empowerment/Government Survey.

Prosecutors and judges

	Year	Level of participation (%)	Change (%)
	M	F	M	F
2004	85.7	14.3	-	-
2005	83.1	16.9	-3.0	18.2
2006	88.8	11.2	6.9	-33.7

Source: Ministry of the Family and Women’s Empowerment/Government Survey.

A. Political participation

Women activists are increasing their presence in the lower and middle-level entities of the political parties;

At the national level only one woman chairs a political party;

Of the 220 deputies in the National Assembly, just 28 are women, or 12.72%. Of the nine persons who chair working committees, three are women (33.33%). One chairs a party delegation and two are assistant chairpersons.

(a)Women’s representation in public life

Central government:as opposed to the previous table, the percentage of women ministers was down compared to 1992, when it was 11.11%, thus falling almost by half. In other words, in 2007, of the 30 ministers, just two are women (6.66%), and 12 are vice-ministers, including a joint secretary of the Council of Ministers, of the 51 current ones (22%). All three university presidents are men;

Provincial governments: Of the 18 governors, one (5.55%) is a woman, and of the 39 current vice-governors, three are women (7.7). Of the 239 provincial directors, 49 are women (20.50%);

Local government: As of March 2008, of the 164 municipal administrators, 15 are women (9.14%), and of the 613 communal administrators, nine are women (1.46%).

B. Diplomatic missions [2]

Of the 76 ambassadors only six are women, (19.39%); of the 14 consuls, three are women (3.57%); of the 59 minister-counselors, 13 are women (22.03); of the 50 counselors, seven are women (14%); of the 74 first secretaries, 14 are women (19%); of the 62 second secretaries, 25 are women (40.32%); of the 46 third secretaries, 13 are women (28.26%); of the 11 attachés, five are women (45.45%). Total female representation in diplomacy is around 21.9%.

C. Judges

Of the four Judge-Chancellors on the Supreme Court, two are women (50%), of the 67 trial court judges, eight are women (12%), and of the 23 municipal judges, four are women (17.39%).

D. Prosecutors

Of the 187 prosecutors, 24 are women (12.83%).

III.Issues relating to the specific provisionsof the Covenant (arts. 6 to 15)

Question 15.Please provide information on the measures and investments undertaken aimed at the diversification of the economy, as well as at creating conditions for raising the employment rate (HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, paras. 159-185). Please also explain why employment in agriculture, forestry and livestock has been mainly taken up by returnees (para. 165)

66.Agricultural activity in 2005/2006 benefitted from good climatic conditions that predominated during the farming season, from material resources provided to the families at the right time, such as seeds, fertilizer and working instruments, and from increasing the growing area by roughly 2%, due to the impact of the resettlement and reintegration process of displaced persons, former soldiers and refugees; their indicators as posted showed a 9.8% increase while the forecast was for a 12.3% decrease.

Crop production (in metric tons)/year

Crop	2003/2004	2004/2005	%	2005/2006	%
Corn (Ton)	577 000	734 372	27.3	526 084	-28
Massango/Massambala	123 400	137 907	11.8	144 390	5
Rice	13 000	8 650	-33.5	3 831	-56
Beans	75 966	109 284	43.9	85 081	-22
Groundnuts	49 976	66 003	32.1	64 340	-3
Cassava	6 817 227	8 586 873	26.0	9 037 023	5
Batata Rena	241 945	308 876	27.7	350 814	14
Sweet potatoes	629 573	663 787	5.4	684 756	3

Source: MINADER.

67.Projects were carried out in the farming-livestock sector as part of the programs for the two-year period from 2007 to 2008. They benefited 1,614,672 farming families directly and created 3,229,344 indirect jobs.

68.In the rural extension and development program, 803,730 families will be supervised directly and organized into farming cooperatives with plans to cover an indirect universe of 4,155,808 persons.

69.In the private business sector, the projections indicate that there will be 44,778 direct jobs and about 67,167 indirect jobs in small and medium-sized business.

Program/Project	Beneficiary population	Indirect jobs	Direct jobs
Harvesting	8 144 016	3 229 344	1 614 672
Extension and Rural Development Program	4 155 808	2 408 190	802 730
Caxito Area	700	5 500	3 500
Luena Area	115	1 000	600
Gamjelas Area	190	600	360
Canal do Matumbo	250	1 000	500
Canal da Matala		14 000	7 000
Small and medium-sized businesses		111 945	44 778
Grand total		5 771 579	2 474 140

70.The returnees find jobs based on finding job offers and the people who are offering the jobs. The war created displaced persons and refugees, and peace is doing the opposite. People seek to become involved where they feel best and where they can meet their basic needs in accordance with government policies.

Question 16.Please provide information on the measures taken by the State party to increase and enforce minimum wages, with a view to providing all workers and their families with an adequate standard of living (HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, paras. 192-194)

71.The General Government Program for the 2007/2008 two-year period has the following goals:

(a)Income and pricing policies, related to civil service wages, to strengthen the macroeconomic stabilization process (to ensure monetary and foreign-exchange stability, and to lower inflation), to raise general employment levels, to gradually improve remuneration for labor, and to periodically adjust wages based on expected inflation;

(b)Regarding the public and private business sector, in accordance with the application of Decree 30/08 of May 2, which adjusts the amount of the national single minimum wage, guaranteed and determined in 1991 through Decree 68/91 of November 15 and the amounts of the minimum wage for major economic groups (agriculture, transportation, services and the processing industry, business and the mining industry) determined beginning in 2005 throughDecree 98/05 of October 28, furthering the process of negotiating the Collective Bargaining Agreements for Businesses (Law 20_A of August 14). Collective bargaining takes place in the context of a process that aims to promote dialogue between labor and management, prevent conflicts, ensure democracy at work and improve economic, social and working conditions.

Question 17.Please describe any non-contributory schemes of social assistance in place, their coverage and the types and minimum amounts of benefits. Please indicate whether such schemes, or any other social security schemes, make provision for the social protection of all disadvantaged or marginalized individuals and groups, including internally displaced persons, and how they enjoy the benefits of social security (E/C.12/AGO/3, paras. 48-49; HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, para. 185)

72.As the process of resettling the displaced persons and reintegrating the former soldiers socially and economically came to an end, attention in the area of assistance and social reintegration tuned to the population universe considered vulnerable due to the natural disasters that devastated the country. These included rainfall, as experienced by the people in the provinces of Bengo, Kuanza-Norte and Bié, and dry weather in the provinces of the Center and South, namely: Cunene, Namibe, Huila and Kuanza-Sul.

73.Through these emergency programs poor families received assistance in a universe of 559,143 in 2005 and 742,929 in 2006.

74.Moreover, in all the programs to fight poverty in the 2005-2006 two-year period, 666,336 families participated in community projects.

75.In 2006, 51 socio-economic reintegration projects were implemented, namely: the rehabilitation of social and agricultural infrastructures in the provinces of Huambo and Kuando‑Kubango, Moxico, Uíge and Zaire, which served 393,522 families; 1,283 senior citizens who were institutionalized in 15 homes for senior citizens received services.

76.Regarding support for children and adolescents, specific programs and activities were carried out that served 84,913 children who received care in assistance and protection institutions.

77.The following activities were carried out under the Early Childhood and Preschool Education Expansion and Development Program:

(a)153 PICs were built throughout the country (46 in 2005 and 107 in 2006) to serve around 35,000 children;

(b)51 PICs were equipped in the provinces of Luanda, Bengo, Bié, Huambo, Huíla and Kuanza-Sul;

(c)130 kits for educators and child supervisors were provided to the provinces of Bengo, Bié, Huambo, Huíla, Luanda and Namibe.

Question 18.Please explain why there are no legal provisions specifically criminalizing domestic violence, including marital rape. Please also provide information on the number of women killed or injured in the context of domestic violence since 2002, the number of criminal proceedings and convictions, the sentences imposed on perpetrators of domestic violence, and the remedies provided to victims. Please provide information on any programmes of mandatory training of police, prosecutors and judges on the criminal nature of such acts, assistance and shelters for victims, and awareness-raising campaigns

78.Based on one of the studies on domestic violence and as part of the legislative review, a specific law is now being prepared for the purpose of criminalizing acts of violence that take place in families.

79.The fact that the aforementioned law does not exist does not create any gap in the legal order, as acts of domestic violence are provided for and punished by the current Criminal Law.

Question 19.Please provide information on the measures taken to investigate allegations of sexual violence against migrant women in the province of Lunda and to prosecute offenders. How does the State party ensure that such crimes are prevented in the future?

80.During 2004, the General Command of the National Police carried out an activity known as “Operação Brilhante” in the das Lundas areas, with the purpose of restoring order and legality for foreign citizens residing in these regions. The result was that Gambian citizens were expelled from the country. They were engaged in the work of illegal diamond mining, using either small‑scale or industrial-scale labor. These citizens were illegally residing in that part of Angolan territory and thus were in violation of the statutes that govern the terms of entry and residence in the national territory as established in Law 3/94 of January 21 on the Legal System for Aliens in the Republic of Angola.

81.Article 51 of the abovementioned law establishes that, notwithstanding the agreements or international conventions of which the Republic of Angola is a member, aliens who commit the following acts shall be expelled from Angolan territory:

(a)Breach national security or the domestic order;

(b)Do not observe Angolan laws;

(c)Exercise any activity that requires legal authorization without being authorizedto do so.

82.The Gambian citizens that were expelled from Angola did not have declared residences, nor did they observe the orders issued by Angolan authorities to leave the diamond-mining regions and consequently, Angolan territory, because they did not meet the requirements of Article 13 of Law 3/94, which is contrary to the domestic order. They did not observe the laws of Angola and were exercising illegal activities, which under the law is grounds for expelling them from the national territory.

83.The National Police is the entity that has the obligation of guaranteeing compliance with the laws and, in this capacity, assisted the competent governmental entities to decree that illegal aliens were to be expelled as part of a program known as “Operação Brilhante.” This was carried out with no violations or violence of any kind. Because it is an act of sovereignty, it cannot be construed as illegal.

Question 20.Please provide information on measures implemented in public and private health facilities to ensure the registration of new-born children, as well as those that have not yet been registered

84.Decree Law 2/07 establishes the framework for the duties and competencies and the legal system for the organization and operation of the provincial governments in the context of deconcentration and the administrative decentralization strategy. This prerequisite made it possible to approve and then implement Decree 31/07 of May 14, by the Council of Ministers, which exempts all children from birth to 5 years old from paying the fees and issues identity cards to children from 8 to 11 years old. It also creates conditions to ensure that the birth registry services work together with the hospitals, maternity centers, mother-child centers and birth delivery centers, as well as municipal and communal agencies, and expands the system together with the communities. This has enabled all children to enjoy this right.

85.Through a recent measure, the National Children’s Institute (INAC) will lead teams that include institutions and entities that belong to the Children’s Rights Protection and Promotion Networks at the provincial, municipal, communal and local levels so that the citizens understand the measures in Decree 31/07.

86.To make it possible to implement the aforementioned Decree, the government strengthened the allocation of financial resources for the birth registry system so that more children can be registered and have a national identity document that is valid for accessing health and education services among others.

Question 21.Please describe the impact of measures taken to protect children against all forms of exploitation, in particular work that is likely to be hazardous or harmful to their health, education and the full enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights, including exploitative work in the agriculture sector. Please also provide detailed information on the measures taken to combat the sexual exploitation of children, in particular street children in Luanda, including information on the number of children engaged in prostitution and on the number of police and social welfare officers specifically tasked with preventing and rehabilitating victims of such exploitation

87.The strategy for implementing Law 1/06 of January 18 contains a series of measures, the most important of which are:

(a)Integrating youths into working life.This promotes jobs for youths through integrated policies that meet the needs of youths to find their first jobs in a variety of schools;

(b)Youth training under the apprenticeship system.This is for people in the 14‑25 age group that have completed the sixth grade and are looking for their first jobs. They have occupational qualifications and have obtained facilities to transition from the educational system to the working world;

(c)Temporary jobs for youths to perform community service activities.These jobs meet the needs of localities or residential areas, particularly civic and innovative activities, as well as activities that youths can perform in their free time, while acquiring occupational skills and participating in community activities;

(d)Support for employment and training for young girls.This involves training and qualifying the youngest age groups of women so that they can find their first jobs;

(e)Local job initiatives.This is part of the process of local leadership and development for rural areas to create jobs at those levels for youths who are looking for their first jobs;

(f)Support for the socio-occupational integration of moderately disabled youths for finding their first jobs.This program provided training, qualifications and occupational rehabilitation for these youths and made employers aware of observing the national and international laws as well as the laws of other entities by offering them incentives for placing or hiring this group of youths. It also provided individual socio-occupational integration projects for families of disabled youths;

(g)Support for the socio-occupational integration of youths who are socially at risk  and of working age.This support provided for the managed integration of youths from 14 to 30 years old who failed primary school repeatedly or who could not break the social marginality cycle because of idleness, prostitution, commercial sexual exploitation, and running away from home.

88.These and other measures are taken in accordance with the General Labor Act (Law 2/00, Resolution 24/99), which enacted the Action and Intervention Plan against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, the goals of the International Labor Organization (ILO), and Convention 182. They contribute to gradually eliminating the economic exploitation of children and youths, including the worst forms of child labor such as:

(a)Hazardous jobs - such as street vendors in the large cities, working in the field on farms, guarding livestock, fishing on the high seas, searching for diamonds in mines, etc.;

(b)Commercial sexual exploitation. Although there have been no surveys or inquiries to determine with certainty the number of children involved at the end of the 1990s, this issue has been of concern to the government because of reports of cases that the authorities of the provinces of Zaire, Lunda Norte and Cunene have identified, where children engage in prostitution, sometimes with the encouragement of their own low-income families or guardians, as a means to survive, as well as the registry of persons assisted by social support services, children’s health services, psychological support and socio-educational activities that found: 81 street children, 120 of the communities in 2001; 111 street children and 97 of the communities in 2002; 210 street children and 44 of the communities in 2003;

(c)Child trafficking and enslavement,with some evidence, especially at the domestic level in the broad sense of the term, but also abroad, where children are taken to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in most cases, and to Namibia and South Africa. This study is in progress to accurately determine the number of cases that may have occurred. Nevertheless, prevention, protection and recovery measures have been taken, and as a result traffickers have been detained and the children who are the victims have been reintegrated.

Question 22.Please comment on reports that activities by the extractive industry (diamonds) have had a negative impact on the local communities, in particular with regard to their access to land and safe drinking water. What measures are being taken by the State party to oversee and enforce corporate social responsibility?

89.Activities in the mining industries have generated a very negative impact on the local communities, particularly in the diamond mining areas. Rivers are diverted and land that belongs to the traditional communities is used for diamond mining, bringing about countless lengthy disputes.

90.To solve this situation, the government of Angola passed important statutes that national resource users are required to scrupulously observe, namely Decree 51/04 of July 23 on the Environmental Impact Evaluation System (AIA) and Law 9/04 of November 9 on lands. This law establishes the general conditions for the legal system of government lands, the land rights that may revert to the general transmission system, and the formation, exercise and extinction of these rights.

91.The basis for evaluating environmental impact according to Article 9 of Decree 51/04 is the impact study for a given project, which must include the following as a minimum:

(a)A non-technical project summary;

(b)A description of the activities to be carried out;

(c)A general description of the environmental situation of the location where the activity will take place;

(d)A summary of the opinions and criticisms that arose from the public consultations;

(e)A description of the possible environmental and social changes that the project may cause;

(f)An indication of measures to eliminate or minimize negative social and environmental impacts;

(g)Information on the system to control and monitor activities.

92.According to the legislation in effect, the project can be licensed only if it obtains a favorable opinion from the entity that is in charge of the environment.

93.Article 12 No. 3 of the Angolan Constitutional Law establishes the constitutional principle of land ownership by the State as understood, in that the State owns land that has not yet been definitively incorporated into the private property system for individuals and legal entities, and in that the State may transfer to other parties the land it already owns so that it can be properly used in the interest of the country’s development.

94.The State respects and protects the land rights that the rural communities possess, including those that are based on usage or custom.

95.The State intervenes in the management and concession of lands with the following goals:

(a)Adapting land use to the formation, administration and operation of urban areas;

(b)Protecting the environment and using land in an economically efficient and sustainable manner;

(c)Placing priority on the public interest and socio-economic development.

96.Regarding access to drinking water, since there is no urban land use system in the areas on the outskirts of localities, water is being supplied increasingly by fountains and boreholes. The situation is described in the following tables in which the main changes can be observed.

Legend for the next two tables:

Number of water points (holes), by province:

Provinces Existing in 2004 (1) Existing in 2005 2006 Change (%)

Planned Existing existing

06/04

TotalsBeneficiary populations (1)Source: MINEA

(1) Existed in 2004 and used as the starting point.

(2) We considered that there was an average of 250 users per water point.

-----

Number of fountains, by province:

Provinces Existing in 2004 (1) Existing in 2005 2006 Change (%)

Planned Existing existing

06/04

TotalsBeneficiary populations (1)Source: MINE

(1) Existed in 2004 and used as the starting point.

(2) We considered that there was an average of 700 users per fountain, with each fountain having an average of three faucets.

Question 23.Please provide more detailed information on the impact of the programmes and policies aimed at combating poverty (Poverty Reduction Strategy) and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, especially on female‑headed households and individuals and families living in informal settlements. Please explain the coordination and monitoring mechanisms established for the implementation of those programmes and policies (HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, para. 15). How does the State party ensure the participation of groups affected by poverty in the development of these programmes and policies? Which groups have benefited most from the achievements of the reforms?

97.In 2001, the government of Angola began working on the Provisional Poverty Reduction Strategy. With the signing of the peace accords in 2002 as a strategy for strengthening peace and for national reconstruction, the government prepared the Strategy to Fight Poverty, with the goal of lowering the incidence of poverty by 50% by 2015 with the help of civil society and the communities by:

(a)Implementing economic and institutional reforms, particularly in terms of public finance and financing of the State administration for the purpose of promoting macroeconomic stability and sustainable development;

(b)Developing human capital by strengthening and restructuring professional training, and by increasing and improving access to health and education services;

(c)Promoting food security and rural development by strengthening the production capacity of the traditional food crop and small-scale fishing sector, the rural business sector, and the micro- and small-business sector, focusing on developing and supporting the private sector;

(d)Strengthening the institutional capacity and efficiency of the public sector, including the deconcentration and decentralization of the public administration to levels closer to the population;

(e)Implementing the Mine Clearance Program, to enable persons and goods to circulate so that the lives of the people and economic and social activity return to normal.

98.The link between government policies and the Millennium Development Goals has become a key factor in fighting poverty.

99.In the context of the principal international legislative human rights instruments that Angola has already ratified, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the challenge of strengthening the initiatives that create a positive impact on promoting human rights has arisen in the context of the Millennium Development Goals.

100.Angola has enormous agricultural potential that has not been exploited due to the prolonged armed conflict. The sector’s recovery is creating jobs for many currently unemployed laborers, and most of them are young.

101.Despite the effort the government and its social partners are making to implement rural development programs and projects that assist rural workers, we note that there are groups in the population that require special attention in terms of food security and social protection for segments of the population that also live in the rural areas, namely:

Senior citizens, who live alone, with no economic or financial capacities;

Families with female heads of households and minor children;

Persons with disabilities;

Invalids.

Question 24.Please provide information as to how the development programmes in the agricultural sector contribute to the right to food for everyone, in particular the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups and individuals (E/C.12/AGO/3, paras. 102-103)

102.The agriculture sector is one of the strategic areas for Angola’s future development, given the hydro-agricultural potential as well as the ability to create jobs and income for families. Rural development and meeting the basic social needs of the people and rural communities in particular are fundamental pillars to guarantee food and nutritional security for families as well as children, regardless of the social measures that are adopted.

103.In the 2004-2007 period much progress was made and there were also constraints. Because of the stability found in the rural areas as well as programs in progress that aim to improve the people’s living conditions, it was found that the number of producer families increased in the 2006-2007 crop season. However, abnormal climatic events occurred in the country, with intensified flooding, drought and high winds. Heavy rains in the 2006-2007 farming season dislodged families and caused property losses, making the families vulnerable to food insecurity.

General aspects of the change in the farming season 2004/2005 and 2005/2006

Description	Period
2004/2005	2005/2006
Number of producing families	2 240 817	2 292 939
Total planted area	3 147 060 ha	3 262 325 ha
Total output (metric tons)
Corn	734 372	526 084
Massango/Massambala	137 907	144 390
Rice	8 650	8 186
Beans	109 284	87 081
Groundnuts	66 003	66 340
Cassava (fresh product)	8 586 873	8 835 009
Sweet potato	663 787	690 256
Batata rena	308 876	300 142

104.In 2004, the government enacted and in 2005 officially launched the “Rural Extension and Development Program” to contribute to increasing the production and productivity of family farms and involving the rural communities in the country’s economic and social development.

105.Keeping the reality of the country in mind and the overwhelming necessity of creating mechanisms to determine which groups are vulnerable, where the people that have to cope with food insecurity are living, and how to work together with the vulnerable families to minimize their difficulties, mechanisms were created and policies were adopted by expanding the analysis to achieve the following goals:

(a)Ensure that all Angolans are able to consume at least 2,500 kcal/person per day by 2015;

(b)Ensure that no Angolans die of hunger and/or disease related to the inadequate food consumption;

(c)Ensure that all Angolans are entitled to food.

Question 25.Please provide detailed information on the measures taken to ensure affordable access to adequate water and sanitation and to reduce the waiting time for collecting water, in particular with regard to:

(a) The most disadva ntaged and marginalized groups;

(b) The rural areas;

(c) The informal settlements in Luanda (E/C.12/AGO/3, paras. 137-140; HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, paras. 103, 119 and 215).

106.In cooperation with its social partners, the government intensified programs to: increase and improve water quality; strengthen supply services for the people; promote basic sanitation and hygiene; increase drinking water access to 48% of people in rural areas and 76% of people in urban areas; provide access to safe means of waste disposal to 32% of persons in rural areas and 79% in urban areas.

107.Progress in the level of national coverage of drinking water supply and basic sanitation is being made slowly but surely. The Water Act, “Law 6/02,” has brought about substantive reforms in the sector to accelerate coverage by expanding partnerships and through integrated water resources management.

108.In 2005, with UNICEF support, and in cooperation with the European Union (EU) and UNESCO, the MED assessed the status of water and sanitation services in schoolsin 41 municipalities.

109.An integrated approach to the water and sanitation sector was implemented in a logical framework to be incorporated into the national water system. Developing this process involved the participation of all the provinces, which were partners of the sectors, as well as national and international NGOs and the private sector. The survey data were used as the basis to identify gaps, requirements and responses to prepare the plans and programs necessary to orient all the programs in the water and sanitation sector at the national level for the following year. The results strengthened the National Information Management System (SNGI) for Water and Sanitation and the Management Information System for Education (SGIE).

110.In the context of the Schools for Africa Program, lavatories and water equipment were built in seven schools for a total of 3,735 students (1,796 girls and 1,939 boys) and 115 teachers. The Schools for Africa Program combined the education and water/sanitation projects into a comprehensive holistic school package. As a result of the assessment, a national strategic package for health and hygiene in schools is being implemented in cooperation with the WHO, WFP and UNICEF. This package aims to contribute to reduce child mortality and morbidity, and to support education for children by improving water supply, sanitation and promoting hygiene in schools and communities.

111.The water and sanitation projects involved community participation for implementation and maintenance. Water user groups and parents’ committees were established as a way to ensure that the water and sanitation projects are sustainable. Women were trained and included in the water and sanitation coordinating committees for the community of water user groups.

112.Regarding the urban areas of the largest cities, efforts were made to rehabilitate and build the water supply and sanitation system, placing priority on urban areas throughout the country, to meet the ambitious goal of 76% coverage in 2006.

113.The 2006 projects concentrated on finalizing project implementation for specific areas in Bié, Huambo, Benguela, Uíge and Huíla. This created 62,000 new users who obtained access to drinking water supply services, for a total of 1.2% of the rural population that has access toupgraded water supply systems, and reducing the gap by 2.5% compared to the MDGs. The Huíla provincial authorities agreed to finance 50% of the water supply systems. A total of 49,000 students in 53 primary schools gained access to improved water and sanitation services in school.

114.The European Union’s “National Water, Sanitation, Environment and Health” (ASAH) Project was designed for the 2007-2008 period to be implemented in a partnership with the government and other key players at the national and provincial level. The pre-project consultation was an opportunity to complete the Provincial Action Plans (PAP) for the ASAH and to obtain additional funding through the government and the Cunene and Huambo provincial authorities.

115.In accordance with the policies identified for this sector, activity in the area of energy and water continued to be oriented toward improving the supply of these services, from production to distribution, to ensure greater regularity in the delivery of services and to meet growing consumption brought about by economic development and access for a growing number of citizens and population groups.

116.With regard to water supply system capacity in the localities and other sources of water supply, the status is shown in the four tables. With the investment effort made in this period, there have already been benefits in the quantity and quality of the water that has been produced and distributed, with a greater impact on access to this service for the target population, which has been more significant now that the projects in progress are being completed. This results in greater coverage, with connections to houses and the construction of fountains as scheduled for end-2008.

Legend for the next table:

Capacities, in m3/day for Water Supply Systems - Provincial Seats

Provincial Seat 2004 (Starting data) 2005 2006 (2)Change (%)

Nom. capacity available Planned Available Planned Available Available

06/04TotalsPer capita average (1)Source: MINEA

(1) Per-capita average, in liters/inhabitant/day, was estimated for an urban population of 7,000,000 inhabitants.

(2) The limitation of storage capacity and distribution networks, as well as electricity supply restrictions for the systems, restricts the volume of water supplied.

117.The capacity of available systems as of the end of this-two year period rose 27% over 2004. This growth was well below the scheduled goal for the two-year period, which was 113%. However, this increase is also reflected in per-capita consumption, so that it can also be interpreted that more people obtained access to this service.

Legend for the table above:

Number of water points (boreholes) per province

Provinces Existing Existing 2006 Change(%)

in 2004 (1) in 2005 Planned Existing Existing

06/04TotalsBeneficiary population (1)Source: MINEA

(1) Existing figures for 2004 are used as the starting point data.

(2) An average number of 250 beneficiaries per water point was used in the distributionnetworks in some of the supply systems, as well as by the fact that operations were intermittent or were subject to conditions due to electrical supply restrictions in most of the localitiesserved.

118.However, the increase in available drinking-water production capacity is not reflected in the same proportion in the quantity of water actually distributed to the population due to water storage capacity and limits.

119.Regarding the water sector, the preparation of regulations on the general use of water resources and the public supply of drinking water, treatment of waste water and urban rain drainage was completed and submitted to the appropriate level for approval. Moreover, in the context of the development program that this sector approved, efforts continued to create local businesses that will be in charge of managing and operating water supply systems in the localities and provincial seats.

120.As in previous years, the State made almost all of the investments in the water and energy sectors in 2006. The reason for this is that all of the reforms made have come about through private sector participation in the preparation phase in which the rate policy issue is of importance.

Table of resources available in the period

Amounts allocated in absolute terms and in percentages per year

Program	2004	%	2005	%	2006	%	2007	%
General Government Budget
Basic sanitation	8 202 010 018.00	0.86	15 338 140 117.00	0.70	16 892 798 305.00	0.67	NA
Water supply	15 998 938 220.00	1.67	11 966 041 754.00	0.55	17 136 694 687.00	0.68	NA
Environment	18 823 084 444.00	1.97	2 084 406 683.00	0.10	39 069 419 482.00	1.56	NA

Source: 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 General State Budget.

NA: Not available.

Amounts provided by UNICEF for the country as part of cooperation with the Government for the 2005-2008 period

Standard Resources(in thousands of US dollars)

Water, environmental sanitation and hygiene	Standard	Other	Total
1 920	7 000	8 920

Source: Government/UNICEF cooperation agreement.

121.Notwithstanding the increase in programs, according to the MICS indicators for 2001,[3] 81% of the population of Angola does not treat water before drinking it, about 40% does not obtain water from safe sources, 33% use water piped into their houses or fountains, and 29% use water taken from other safe sources such as boreholes, wells and protected springs. These figures would not be far from actual figures if a survey had been performed.

122.In the rural areas, just 22% of residents have access to clean water for consumption and 26% have access to sanitation services. In urban areas, the figure is relatively higher. Only five cities in Angola are partially covered by sewer systems: Luanda, Huambo, Lubango, Lobito, and Benguela; 41% of households use sanitary means for waste disposal.

123.It was also observed that although planned in the sector program, it has not yet been possible to work on all of the systems to recover and expand some existing capacities due to the overwhelming necessity of restricting the construction of new projects due to available funding capacity.

124.Due to a lack of urban land use systems in the areas on the outskirts of localities, growing use has been made of water through fountains and boreholes, whose status is described in the following tables that show the main changes.

125.The number of fountains and boreholes created includes not only the construction of new water points, but to the recovery of some existing ones as well. Both contribute to projects to increase the people’s access to safer sources of drinking water supply. Even though the numberof fountains planned was not reached by the end of the two-year period, the growth rate was 30.7% over 2004, and it surpassed the planned goal, which was 20%. Regarding the number of boreholes, confirmed growth, at 4%, reaches the goal for the two-year period.

126.Compared to 2005, it is estimated that the increase in water supplied in 2006 rose by 9.2%, at a rate lower than the system’s capacity growth rate for the same period. Several programs are being implemented, and development in 2006 was decisive. In addition to soon contributing to increased existing capacity, they will significantly increase these capacities.

Question 26.Please indicate the progress achieved by the State party in adopting guidelines and legislation strictly defining the circumstances and safeguards under which evictions must take place, taking into account the Committee’s general comment No. 7 (1997) on the right to adequate housing. Pending the adoption of such guidelines and legislation, please indicate whether a comprehensive resettlement plan has been adopted for persons forcibly evicted from informal settlements in Luanda and Cabinda. Is there any slum upgrading project being implemented in Luanda? Please also provide statistical data on the number of persons evicted since 2002, including their socio-economic status, as well as information on the circumstances under which these evictions took place

Question 27.Please indicate what measures have been taken to address the problem of security of tenure in informal settlements in Luanda

Question 28.Please provide information on the programmes and health policies in place to ensure access to adequate health services, goods and facilities, including access to safe pharmaceutical products, in particular at the community level, and provide statistical data on trained medical personnel, disaggregated by rural and urban areas, including deprived urban areas, and by the most disadvantaged or marginalized individuals and groups (HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, paras. 198-215)

Note: Below are answers to questions 26, 27 and 28.

127.According to the Government Program Survey, over 95% of investments in health were made with financial resources that came primarily from the China Line and other European funding sources. In addition, in 2006 the implementation of major projects began for grouped purchases of hospital equipment, thus highlighting the health sector’s important contribution, with the emergence of new facilities and health services.

128.In this regard, and for the purpose of providing greater accessibility for the people to health services and drugs, 13 municipal hospitals with a capacity of 90 beds, nine health centers with a capacity of 30 beds, and four regional hospitals, two convalescent homes and two psychiatric hospitals are being built.

129.The expansion of the health network necessitated an increase in the number of health-care workers, with about 14,071 new workers in the national health system.

130.Through the reforms underway, targeted and controlled projects have been implemented in every component of the national health service, from programming, budgeting and management, to program monitoring and evaluation. Now that the strategic and operational plans for the public health programs have been implemented, they are being monitored and evaluated.

Question 29.Please provide more detailed information on the health protection available to persons infected with malaria, cholera or polio, persons with mental health problems, landmine victims and other persons with disabilities, including information on achievements and plans to provide equal access to adequate, safe and affordable treatment and medication for such persons

131.Likewise, in 2006 the health sector began to provide technical assistance to all the provincial systems in programming and budgeting in order to prepare credible action plans to identify issues and propose solutions within a determined strategy framework.

132.The malaria program created a reinforced vector control program with new entomological measures, including the use of biolarvicides. Through the introduction of new drugs sensitive to the plasmodium, accelerated training courses have begun for physicians, nurses and laboratory workers throughout the country.

133.Malaria is Angola’s most serious health issue. It is estimated that it contributes to 35% of all mortality among children under five years old, 25% of maternal mortality, 60% of hospitalizations for children under five years old, and 10% of hospitalizations for pregnant women. Malaria is responsible for 55% of the use of the peripheral health network. Malaria prevalence is estimated at six million clinical cases per year in Angola.[4]

134.Angola subscribed to the Abuja Declaration on Roll Back Malaria in 2000, adopted the Declaration on Africa Malaria Day, and celebrated Africa Malaria Day annually in April. These international commitments were the reasons for the creation in 2003 of the National Malaria Control Program and the implementation of the five-year (2008-2012) National Malaria Strategic Control Program (PNCM) with the following goals:

(a)Lower malaria prevalence by 50% (estimated at six million clinical cases per year);

(b)Reduce mortality due to malaria by 50%.

135.The government is carrying out priority preventive programs to control vectors at the national level by distributing insecticide-treated nets (ITN) and carrying out Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) in the context of the PNCM. In 2007, 826,000 nets were distributed with ILD and over 120,000 houses were sprayed with insecticide in the provinces of Huíla and Cunene, serving roughly 500,000 people.

Figure 1. Number of malaria cases in Angola (1999-2006) [5] Legend: casos (milhões): millions of cases

Figure 2. Number of cases of death from malaria in Angola (1999-2006)

Legend: Obitos (milhares): Deaths (in thousands)

136.The apparent decrease in the different rates as shown by the graphs above should be interpreted taking the contributing factors into account, namely the deterioration of the reporting system in 2005-06, the stabilization of the populations, the improved nutritional status of the population, the improvement in laboratory confirmation of diagnoses, etc.

137.The malaria program created a reinforced vector control program with new entomological resources, including the use of biolarvicides. Through the introduction of new drugs sensitive to the plasmodium, accelerated training courses have begun for physicians, nurses and laboratory workers throughout the country.

138.New technologies to control the major endemics were introduced into and accelerated in the public health programs. With these technologies, tests were performed to control the malaria vector by indoor and outdoor fumigation of houses, training for physicians, nurses and diagnostic technicians in treating malaria cases throughout the country, and in the use of the new antimalarials sensitive to malaria parasites.

139.Vaccine coverage improved considerably throughout the country in that coverage was strengthened. With the introduction of the new pentavalent vaccine, the entire process was accelerated, although coverage did not reach 50%. The expansion and improvement of the cold chain continues to be supported by introducing solar systems as an alternative source of electric energy.

140.The AIDS epidemic continues to impose greater challenges on the authorities. In response, treatment services for patients were doubled as were vertical transmission prevention services. The number of voluntary counseling and testing centers was tripled in all the provinces. All the programs in this area have brought about greater acceptance by the population, consequently confirming an increase in awareness and sentiment for the cause of people who are living with HIV.

141.New technologies to control the major endemics were introduced into and accelerated in the public health programs. With these technologies, tests were performed to control the malaria vector by indoor and outdoor fumigation of houses, training for physicians, nurses and diagnostic technicians in treating malaria cases throughout the country, and in the use of the new antimalarials sensitive to malaria parasites.

142.Programs to counter the cholera epidemic were not very efficient. This caused rapid growth in the epidemic in the provinces that never reported the disease. It is also important to report that the national response capability to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic is confronted with service limitations in all areas where demand is high for counseling, voluntary testing, prevention of vertical transmission and treatment with antiretrovirals for patients. Efforts that are underway have not yet succeeded in reversing the extent of the epidemic since the requirements for investment in human and financial capital are not being identified and programmed so that the strategies can be applied at all levels and with national coverage.

Question 30.Please provide updated data on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and the number of persons infected who benefit from access to retroviral treatment, as well as information on the effectiveness of the measures taken to combat its increase (E/C.12/AGO/3, para. 178-207; HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, paras. 15 (g) and 105). Please also provide information on the measures taken with regard to sexual health education, particularly those targeting young people

143.In 2002 the government designed and implemented a National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan[6] in partnership with civil society and the United Nations System to combat the spread of the disease. The Strategy was turned into Provincial Action Plans for the 2003-2004 period. As a result, a law was enacted in 2004 with provisions for protecting children affected by the stigma from HIV/AIDS and discrimination. It fosters access to counseling, voluntary testing, antiretroviral therapy and preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding. In 2005 the National AIDS Institute and National AIDS Control Commission was created.

144.In 2006, in a partnership with UNICEF and with technical support from the National AIDS Control Institute, the MINJUD launched the HIV/AIDS awareness program to increase awareness levels in children between 15 and 18 years old during free time on how to prevent sexually transmitted infections. The campaign is very important for prioritizing programs that target children, mainly in the area of prevention, as they represent one of the valid opportunities to reverse incidence rates. In the last two years, over 10,673 children have taken part in all of the programs on the national scale.

145.In monitoring, research was done for the Rapid Analysis and Assessment (RAAAP‑ANGOLA) and the National Action Plan for OVCs due to HIV/AIDS was prepared. The preparation of the National Action Plan for the Prevention and Reduction of the Impact of HIV/AIDS on Families and Children, in January 2007, was a participatory effort coordinated by the MINARS. It included government entities such as the Interministerial Coordinating Committee for Early Childhood Programs.

146.The HIV/AIDS epidemic in all the provinces in the country and cumulatively has seen exponential growth, which is of concern to the health authorities. UNAIDS estimated that there are roughly 450,000 persons living with HIV in Angola; of these, more than 76,000 cases are children under age 15. Prevalence rates are steady at around 2.7-2.8%, and Cunene is the province with the highest level at 10%. In 2006 it was reported that the number of new cases doubled over 2005, to about 6,978. This confirms a steady rise in cases of the pandemic. In some areas of the country and among specific population groups, rates have been higher, at around 12%.[7] The extent of HIV/AIDS infection is considered lower than the average in the countries of southern Africa, considered the epicenter of the pandemic.

147.Although the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is estimated to be relatively low at 3.9%, knowledge is extremely limited and prevailing attitudes are not desirable. These are the main reasons for the projected increase in prevalence over the coming years. The number of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) due to HIV/AIDS is on the rise, and recent indicators point to a rate of 9.2% in the province of Cunene.

148.A recent study on youth behavior in Angola showed that although 90.5% of youths had already heard of HIV/AIDS, very few consider that they are at a moderate or high risk of infection, and few have sufficient knowledge of how to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS to protect themselves. For both boys and girls, the first sexual activity begins in Angola at age 15.[8] The vast majority of sexual experiences are unprotected, and only 9% of youths stated that they have used a condom.[9] The 2002 MICS also showed that 32% of Angolan women have never heard of HIV/AIDS, and that just 8% have sufficient knowledge to protect themselves from the infection. According to forecasts, in 2010 the seroprevalence rate will rise to 18%, so that about 1. 6 million people will be infected with HIV/AIDS and the total number of OVCs in Angola will be 200,000.[10]

Question 31.Please provide information on the concrete measures, policies and strategies implemented to combat the high child and maternal mortality, to eliminate discrimination against poor women, older women and women with HIV/AIDS in their access to adequate maternal health care, as well as to combat illnesses such as infectious diseases, paludism and cholera since 2002 (E/C.12/AGO/3, para. 167; HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, paras. 103-113). What proportion of the budget is allocated to the health sector? What are the indicators or benchmarks used to track progress? Please also provide information on the effectiveness of such measures

149.As part of the strategy to lower maternal-child mortality and to improve nutrition, in 2004 the MINSA and its partners prepared the 2005-2009 National Strategic Plan to Accelerate the Reduction of Mother-Child Mortality.[11] This plan, implemented at the national level, is the essential package of care and mother-child health services. It matches the epidemiological profile and features of the natural health system. It is a strategy to bolster technical and management capacities at the provincial and municipal levels, to foster innovative projects, and to achieve the recommended objectives.

150.The package consists of a set of integrated preventive, promotional and curative projects with the following purposes: lowering the mortality rate for children under five to 50%, lowering the malnutrition rate for children under five to 30%, and lowering the maternal mortality rate to 30%.

151.Another low-cost high-efficiency package that is easy to implement is benefit coverage in the country for vulnerable groups that have no access to health services through a fixed network of public health services that includes NGOs and churches. The network consists of advanced and mobile health teams with three community-based and family activities. Based on their jurisdiction, the package is implemented by level and seeks to achieve the goals of the Strategic Plan to Accelerate the Reduction of Mother-Child Mortality, namely:

Having the fixed public health services network provide clinical services and carrying out preventive activities;

Providing preventive services such as immunization, Vitamin A distribution, disinfestation, distribution of insecticide-treated nets, community education and curative services for some common diseases (malaria and ADD), carried out by the advance and mobile teams;

Providing preventive and curative services by NGOs and churches selected by the MINSA;

Providing basic care and services at the community and family level.

152.The project packages are delivered to the target populations by the MINSA’s National Health Service (SNS), complemented by the health services of churches, NGOs and the private sector. The services are provided mainly by the primary or primary healthcare level, which is connected to the secondary and tertiary levels for treating emergency obstetric cases. Article 5 of the Ministry of Health Regulation of General Health Units establishes the bases for subdividing health in the national territory into “Health Areas” (health map), which seeks to improve the management process.

153.MINSA established the bases for planning[12] and operationalizing the package of maternal‑child health projects in the health services network, implemented participatory planning from the bottom up, and strengthened the capacities of local personnel and partners at the health unit level and at the municipal level using national guides.

154.Municipal planning was based on plans for each health unit, avoiding duplication, and ensuring complementarity between levels and national coverage as well as coverage for the population of the municipality. At the provincial level, the municipal plans are gathered together and supplemented with provincial support activities.

155.In the Plan to Accelerate Child Survival and Development Programs, supported by UNICEF, the UNFPA and the WHO, whose main goal is to lower mortality for children under five, MINSA provided resources to the municipality of Kuito in Bié province to consider programs to revitalize primary healthcare services.

156.The government plans to increase and upgrade the child survival and development package through the process of revitalizing the health services throughout the country, beginning in 16 municipalities in the following five provinces: Luanda, Moxico, Huíla, Cunene and Bié. In this first phase, 32% of Angola’s total population will be covered. The package is looking into antenatal consultations, as well as delivery, post-partum and neonatal care, and preventive care for child health, drinking water supply, sanitation, and hygiene, as well as HIV prevention and pediatric antiretroviral treatment and eliminating vertical HIV transmission and transmission from mother to child.

157.To honor Commitment 1 of the Third National Children’s Forum on Life Expectancy, and to make the process sustainable, the 2007-2013 Child Survival and Development Acceleration Investment Plan will be implemented in three phases and will cover the entire country. Invaluable support will be provided by donor countries, the United Nations Agencies, as well as national and international NGOs.

Question 32.Please outline the concrete measures taken since 2002 to ensure adequate occupancy levels and medical treatment, access to adequate food and water, and the availability of voluntary testing and medical counselling services for prisoners, with a view to reducing infectious diseases, the number of deaths, severe overcrowding as well as lack of food and medical care among the prison population

Question 33.Please provide information, including statistical data, regarding access to primary education by the most marginalized and vulnerable groups and persons, particularly in rural areas. Furthermore, please provide information on the measures being taken in order to overcome discriminatory customary practices and attitudes, which prevent children from attending school, in particular those affecting girls in rural areas and landmines victims (E/C.12/AGO/3, paras. 213, 216, 224 and 250-253)

Note: Below are answers to questions 32 and 33.

158.We consider it important that in addition to reporting on primary education, we should also briefly present some information on preschool.

159.In 2008 there were 893,661 pupils in this class. The average annual growth rate was 25.33% for the period from 2002 to 2008, and the cumulative rate was 151.99%, while the growth rate was 221.06%.

	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Preschool	278 347	537 378	678 780	895 145	842 361	938 389	893 661

Source: GEPE/MED.

160.The number of students enrolled in primary school rose between the 2002 and 2007 school years. The average annual growth rate was 14.58% and the cumulative rate for the same period was 87.47%.

Students registered in primary school: 2002-2008

	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Primary school	1 733 549	2 492 274	3 022 461	3 119 184	3 370 079	3 558 605	3 757 677

Source: GEPE/MED.

Change in crude enrollment ratios for primary education

	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Crude enrolment ratio (%)	68.2	91.0	118.1	118.2	122.1	127.1	135.8

Source: GEPE/MED.

161.Through the reorganization of the education sector, the educational reform to provide education for all in Angola, teacher training, the renovation and construction of schools in the country, school enrollment rates were increased, with indicators that show higher figures for the inland provinces of the country (66.3%) compared to the coastal provinces (33.7%), with the strategic goal of curbing regional inequalities and contributing actively to national development.

Comparison of the trend in student populations (in thousands)

Province	2002	2008
Luanda	392.3	486.2
Zaire	20.5	40.9
Cabinda	57.0	101.3
Uíge	58.4	156.4
Kuanza Sul	37.9	61.1
Kuanza Norte	90.0	214.3
Bengo	34.5	37.9
Malange	62.5	150.0
Lunda Norte	29.7	128.3
Lunda Sul	23.4	75.9
Bié	92.6	369.9
Huambo	283.3	359.5
Moxico	37.3	92.2
Benguela	187.4	292.5
Huíla	243.9	710.5
Namibe	35.4	64.5
Cunene	41.2	97.6
Kuando Kubango	26.2	119.7

Source: GEPE/MED.

162.In 2008 the Ministry of Education created the Coordinating Commission for Incorporating Human Rights into the Primary and Secondary Education Systems (Order 0001/08 of April 1). Among other goals, this order includes plans to: investigate rights that have been violated in the education sector (accessibility and fairness, efficiency and quality, registration, facilities and school equipment, faculty, and performance evaluation system for the students), presenting opinions and proposals to eliminate violations in light of the human rights packages and conventions that Angola has ratified, and to promote and protect the enforcement of human rights in the education sector.

Question 34.Please provide information on the measures being taken to address the high dropout rate in primary and secondary education (E/C.12/AGO/3, paras. 213, 216, 224 and 250-253)

163.There is a close link between dropping out of school, repeating classes, and the level of poverty and level of schooling for families, given the low level of human development in Angola. This is a concern for the government and requires it to take further action such as: fighting poverty; creating attractive conditions in the schools (athletic, cultural, recreational andother activities); raising family awareness of the duty to adequately support its students; fighting illiteracy in families; developing the school meal program; and creating areas for computers, among other measures.

164.Because they are poor, countless families seek to keep their sons and daughters at home, to the detriment of schooling, so that they can help with domestic chores, such as feeding the cattle, farming, taking care of younger siblings, etc., or children go to school and have no meals; then they eventually drop out.

165.In partnership with civil society organizations, some of the programs the government is carrying out to decrease the aforementioned rates are the programs and projects to improve the National Strategy to Fight Poverty and the School Meal Program.

166.Some programs for implementing the National Strategy to Fight Poverty have components to strengthen economic and financial capacity by:

(a)Providing microloans to create small businesses or microenterprises;

(b)Creating small businesses;

(c)Creating agro-livestock production cooperatives;

(d)Providing agricultural implements and tools, etc.

167.The School Meal Program, with national coverage, is based on two main principles:

The principle of social justice,which provides the right to equal opportunity for access and enrollment in schools for all school-age children, particularly for low‑income families;

The principle of universality,which provides the right for all students to access services provided in the context of educational social action.

168.Regarding the composition of the school meal, items that are produced by national and/or local industry are used, such as enriched crackers, cookies, bread, cow’s milk, etc., and farm products, such as corn, cassava, fruit, soy milk, honey, etc., as alternatives to imported products.

169.For 2007 and 2008 funding was used in the amount of US$96,228,000.00 for financing the School Meal Program.

170.Another factor that seems to encourage drooping out of school is that many children in the rural areas, and primarily minority ethnic groups, do not have a good grasp of Portuguese, the official language. This situation causes them to fail to learn their lessons well, and they drop out of school as a consequence. To deal with this, the government is working on a draft law on the Status of the National Languages and is implementing the Innovation in Reading Project (IEL - ANGOLA), which seeks to include the national languages in primary education. In addition to the materials production component, it also establishes the need to train teachers through pilot projects, to serve as a test to correct any defects or deficiencies in the project before it is definitively implemented.

171.The use of the national languages in primary education is an experiment in progress that began in 2005. The first workshop to adapt teaching materials for the first grade of primary education was held in the context of the IEL-ANGOLA Project, which already covers seven provinces where different national languages are spoken as the table below shows.

Province	National language
Cunene	Oxikwanyama
Kuando Kubango	Ngangela
Kwanza Norte	Kimbundu
Huambo	Umbundu
Luanda	Kimbundu
Lunda Sul	Cokwe
Zaire	Kikongo

172.In the 2007 school year the first experiment was conducted on teaching national languages in public schools in the first grade. By the end of the year, corrections were made in the materials for the first grade and the materials for the second grade were adjusted based on the requirements of the current educational system.

173.In 2008 materials in the Nyaneka language were adapted and an experiment was carried out beginning in the third quarter of the same year, after teachers were given specific training.

Question 35.Please explain how the quality of education has been maintained when the numbers of teachers at all levels remained unchanged in 2005 and 2006 while the enrolment rate of students rose during this period. What concrete steps have been undertaken to improve professional qualifications of teachers, especially in elementary schools, and their working conditions (HRI/CORE/AGO/2008, paras. 176 and 217-220)?

174.The situation prior to 2003 (when implementation of the Educational Reform Program began) was characterized by poor performance levels of the educational system for the same reasons (consequences of the prolonged armed conflict), which resulted in a further decline in the school network and, consequently, in the enrollment ratio, with a lack of solid teacher training programs based on new methodologies and participatory techniques, as well as other situations that created considerable constraints in this sector.

175.In the post armed conflict context, the government obtained an unparalleled opportunity to carry out all the projects in its Economic and Social Program. To this end, it was possible to begin with gradual increases based on financial capacities in the education budget, with the proposal of creating the Educational Reform Program in accordance with Law 13/01 of December 31 on the Bases of the Educational System, seeking to ensure quality education in the country through a series of actions, including:

(a)Identifying, training and hiring new educators;

(b)Focusing curricula on basic learning;

(c)Reclaiming and implementing physical infrastructures;

(d)Providing educational materials;

(e)Decreasing the disparity in geographical equity;

(f)Strengthening management, planning and supervision capacities; mobilizing resources;

(g)Investing in human capital for social recovery and reintegration.

176.These ambitious goals will be achieved with officials who are capable, in the required quantity and quality. The principle of vocational training for the teachers cannot be ignored.

177.To this end, the MED and its social partners implemented pedagogical training programs, such as:

The PLANCAD, a project for the continuing education of primary school teachers and training for educators;

The project for training ADPP teachers;

The Master Plan (2008-2015) for training teachers, school directors, education inspectors and teaching supervisors, who are part of the Open and Distance Learning Program (EAD) to raise the academic level of primary school teachers.

178.In addition to these projects, the provincial education departments are responsible for organizing and carrying out teaching qualification cycles for professors. These are in fact forums for sharing experiences in teaching and pedagogy that are held each year.

Question 36.What concrete measures are being taken by the State party to reduce the high rate of illiteracy, in particular among women (E/C.12/AGO/3, paras. 230-237)? Please also indicate the percentage of women among university students and the measures taken by the State party to promote greater enrolment of women at all levels of education

179.The Ministry of Education approved the Strategy to Resume Literacy Training and Catch‑up for School Failures (Resolution 9/07 of February 28), based on a partnership with the governments of Brazil and Cuba, which provide human, financial and technological resources to carry out the strategy, as well as social partners, namely NGOs and churches.

180.In addition to the program that reconciles productive activity for the recipients with the interests of education, provides literacy training teachers and tests teaching materials, work is progressing in raising target group awareness by having members join the program, which is carried out with the participation of organizations and churches.

181.The literacy training program is similar to preschool in that they are all the first level of formal socialization and a door to the universe of knowledge.

182.The trend in literacy training campaigns has been satisfactory, with an annual average growth rate of 9.02% and a cumulative rate of 54.14%. The growth rate from 2002 to 2008 was 56.49%. In this trend, females accounted for 51% of the total in the literacy training campaigns.

	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Literacy training	321 003	404 000	323 470	334 220	366 200	389 637	502 350

Source: GEPE/MED.

183.Starting in 1997, literacy training in various regions of the country was carried out using the national languages that are spoken locally.

184.To date, there is no available data on the percentage of women in higher education. However, the Secretary of State for Higher Education is conducting a survey of professors and students in Angolan universities.

Question 37.Please provide information on concrete measures undertaken by the State party to guarantee the right of everyone to take part in cultural life and to ensure their access to benefits of scientific progress and its application, including education in the fields of culture, art and science

185.Measures to guarantee the right of all citizens to take part in cultural life and their access to the benefits of scientific progress and its application are carried out by the Ministry of Culture, which has a Cultural Development Fund so that all citizens can enjoy this right.

186.The basic goal of government efforts is to promote cultural identity as a factor to draw individuals, groups, nations and regions closer together, and to contribute to the social and psychological recovery of persons traumatized by the violence during the armed conflict that lasted over three decades.

187.In addition to the national departments that are the executive bodies, the Ministry of Culture (MINCULT) continues to oversee the National Artistic Training Institute, which controls the public schools for artistic training in the areas of plastic arts, theater, dance and music. Several private institutes were also created that train musicians.

188.The government planned to create an artistic education subsystem (incomplete in the current statutes) to provide for creating primary, mid-level and higher art schools. A building is being built for the operations of the Mid-Level Art Institute, and afterwards another building is planned for the Higher Art Institute.

189.At the provincial level, the respective provincial governments deal with culture. In civil society there are several projects of nongovernmental organizations that are linked to the Angolan League of People’s Friendship and Solidarity (LAASP).

190.The Ministry of Culture promotes cultural development and citizen participation through the Artistic and Cultural Activities Support Fund, estimated at over two million U.S. dollars, distributed every year to cultural agents in projects that can be implemented but whose credibility or initiative does not have government support.

191.The partnership with the nongovernmental organizations is based on the context of development of projects to disseminate, improve and preserve the national cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, while the public and private universities deal with matters in the area of bachelors and masters programs, especially to better understand the issues that are of interest to ethnic groups, such as the status of minorities and the indigenous people of Angola. The traditional authorities also participate in these activities.

192.Social communications resources have played a role in promoting cultural life with citizen participation. The development of the information sector has made possible the existence of new businesses that offer more information to all social segments of the population through “media” on the necessity to preserve the cultural heritage and create venues dedicated to culture.

193.Preserving cultural heritage is one of the most important pillars of the Cultural Policy Guidelines.

194.To protect and regulate artistic activities, in the current context, the government is working to revise and adjust the current legislation. The main laws are as follows:

(a)Constitutional Law (Article 52);

(b)Law 4/90 of March 10 on Copyright;

(c)Executive Decree 33D/92 charges for copyright;

(d)Decree 70/07 on videogram and phonogram sealing.

Abbreviations

ADPP-Development Assistance by the People for the People

ASAH-National Water, Sanitation, Environment and Hygiene Project

CEDAW-Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

CL-Constitutional Law

CRC-Convention on the Rights of the Child

CESCR-International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

EAD-Open and Distance Learning

EPG-Strategy to Promote Gender Equality

GEPE-Office of Research, Planning and Statistics

ICCPR-International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

INE-National Statistics Institute

LLI-Long-lasting insecticide

INIDE-National Institute for Education Research and Development

LAASP-Angolan League of People’s Friendship and Solidarity

MED-Ministry of Education

MICS-Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey

MINARS-Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration

MINCULTMinistry of Culture

MINFAMU-Ministry of the Family and Women’s Empowerment

MDG-Millennium Development Goals

WHO-World Health Organization

OVC-Orphans and Vulnerable Children

NGO-Nongovernmental Organization

WFP-World Food Program

PIC-Community Children’s Program

PIP-Public Investment Program

PLANCAD-Project for the Continuing Education of Primary School Teachers

PNCM-National Strategic Plan for Malaria Control

QIBB-Survey on Basic Indicators of Well-Being

UTCAH-Technical Unit for Coordinating Human Assistance

Notes

[1] Law on the Status of the Ombudsman.

[2] Ministry of Foreign Relations (2004).

[3] MICS: Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey.

[4] “National Malaria Strategic Control Plan for 2008-2012”: National Public Health Department  National Malaria Control Program. Angola Ministry of Health.

[5] Ibid.

[6] National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan, government of Angola.

[7] National AIDS Control Institute: 2005 Activity Report, Luanda 2006.

[8] Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Behavior of Youth in Angola: PNLS, PSI, UNICEF, USAID (2001).

[9] PNLS, PSI, UNICEF, USAID, ( 2003).

[10] Futures Group: PNLS, UNICEF, UNDP, (2003).

[11] 2005-2009 Strategic Plan to Accelerate the Reduction of Mother-Child Mortality in Angola. Investindo no Desenvolvimento Humano. MINSA, National Public Health Department, in partnership with the WHO, UNICEF and the UNFPA.

[12] Pacote Essencial de Saúde Materno Infantil: Bases normativas para sua operacionalização. MINSA.

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