Nearly 2 Million Hit By Angola Drought, But Government Will Not Declare Emergency

The Angolan government has been accused of being in denial over a drought that has affected 1.8 million people because the crisis threatens to tarnish the country's image as a booming economy. Children as young as nine are digging wells to fetch water, amid a severe drought in southern regions of Angola that has forced people to use unclean water for consumption and cooking, according to the UN. Neighbouring Namibia, which has also been badly affected, has declared a drought emergency and appealed for humanitarian aid.

Angola has done neither, although it has appointed a special inter-ministerial commission to respond to the drought, delivered food aid and drilled boreholes. Government sources have told the UN that funding requirements are between $150m (£242.3m) and $350m, but amounts disbursed so far have not been confirmed.

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"We have a government that has no political responsibility," said Elias Isaac, country director for the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (Osisa) and a strong critic of the Angolan government. "Last month, it spent over $130m to host an international hockey tournament and paid for the Spanish to come, so you see the lack of regard this government has for its own people."

Unicef, the UN agency for children, says approximately 3 million children under five will potentially be affected by the effects of the prolonged drought. Between December last year and June this year, 17,746 malnourished children went through outreach community programmes, 5,337 with severe acute malnutrition and 11,097 with moderate acute malnutrition.

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http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/oct/22/angola-in-denial-severe-drought