Angola

Disaster Risk Reduction

Luanda, 27 March 2007 - Discussions are ongoing to establish a capacity development project to assist the Service for National Civil Protection (SNPC), support with the drafting of the national contingency plan, early warning systems and disaster risk reduction/management. A DRR specialist is expected to arrive in the coming weeks to complete the technical mission that is assessing and advising CPR Angola.

CPR represents UNDP on the UN disaster management team (UNDMT) and has been active with meetings, proposals & data collection in response to the unprecedented flooding in Southern Angola.

CPR is also leading a joint UN/NGO/SNPC task force to support and expedite the drafting of the Angolan national contingency plan, at a meeting held last week it was agreed that a three-day workshop was to be held at the end of April bringing in external resources from BCPR, UNICEF & OCHA to facilitate & provide expertise on DRR/national contingency planning.

CPR represented UNDP at a meeting with a team from SADC Regional Vulnerability Assessment Commission (RVAC), representatives of other UN sister agencies and the Ministry of Agriculture. In response, CPR participated in a follow up meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture to support the establishment of an Angolan Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC) and to explore options for generating vulnerability data and reporting from Angola for submission to SADC/RVAC later in the year.

Meetings held with FAO & staff of the GEF/Okavango project team to explore ways of integrating CPR DRR projects, early warning systems ,climate change adaptation, hydro-metric systems and water management of the two sister agencies. Options for collaboration include joint training programmes and capacity building for SNPC, facilitation of national & regional networking/ enhanced exchange between relevant departments and organizations, and collaborative initiatives with the Angolan – Namibian disaster management commission to enhance management and mitigation of the annual flooding in the two countries. Initial meeting to be arranged with SNPC, National Department for Water (DNA) & INAMET to explore a logical plan of action.