Humanitarian Action for Children 2022 - Angola

HIGHLIGHTS

• An estimated 7.3 million people in Angola are facing food and nutrition insecurity due to climate shocks.
  An estimated 3.9 million children are in need of assistance.

• Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) admissions among children 6 to 59 months at mid-year 2021 have already exceeded the 2020 total caseload. An estimated 1.2 million people are facing water scarcity as a direct consequence of the drought and have had their water, sanitation and hygiene conditions compromised by COVID-19.

• Health emergencies, including measles, polio, malaria and the COVID-19 pandemic will increase humanitarian needs and deepen the complexity of the situation in 2022.

• UNICEF's Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) will include the provision of essential medicines, vaccines, nutrition and WASH supplies and infection prevention and control support, as well as education, child protection, gender-based violence (GBV) and communication for development services, including risk communication and community engagement.

• UNICEF is appealing for US$26.6 million to respond to humanitarian needs in Angola in 2022.

SECTOR NEEDS

7 million people in need of nutrition assistance

2.5 million children in need of emergency vaccination

1.2 million people in need of emergency WASH services

97,402 children in need of protection services

2.3 million children in need of education support

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION AND NEEDS

Angola is facing the worst recorded drought in 40 years. The Government report projected 7.3 million people were exposed to drought in the second quarter of 2021 (MAM). By January 2021, 3.8 million people affected by drought were reported to have insufficient food consumption, according to a United Nations World Food Programme food security assessment conducted in April 2021. This represents an increase of over 135 per cent compared to the previous year. While the impact of the drought can be felt throughout the country, it has more severely impacted six provinces: Cuanza Sul, Benguela, Huambo, Namibe, Huíla and Cunene. Luanda and other urban areas remain also most vulnerable due to secondary impacts of COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks, as well as poverty.
The humanitarian situation in Angola continues to deteriorate with over 3,000 internally displaced people reported in Cunene, notably Ombadja and Cahama municipalities. In addition, this drought comes on the back of three consecutive failed agricultural harvesting seasons with crop losses of 40 per cent and negatively impacting family and household income and livelihoods. An estimated 1.2 million people are facing water scarcity as a direct consequence of the drought and will have their water, sanitation and hygiene conditions compromised, exacerbated by COVID-19. Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) study has found that many water points in the most drought-affected communes are not working, highlighting a critical gap for water, sanitation and hygiene.
Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) admissions17 among children 6 to 59 months at mid-year 2021 have already exceeded the 2020 total caseload.18 Recent survey results19 revealed that between July and September 2021, around 1.3 million people experienced high levels of acute food insecurity. Protection risks in the most drought-affected provinces have heightened, particularly for women and children.
By the end of September, a total of 57,247 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the country, with 7,749 active cases and 1,548 deaths (2.7 per cent).22 Drought and COVID-19 undermine and disrupt health, education, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene and socioeconomic sectors, while cases of gender-based violence (GBV), child labor and child marriage increase. More than 2.3 million children are out of school in Angola.23 In the south of Angola, access to education has been jeopardized by drought.24 Most children in drought-affected areas have limited or no access to TV or radio distance learning programmes.25 Angola is also prone to other health emergencies such as malaria,26 measles, vaccine- derived polio,27 yellow fever and cholera.