Angola 2002 Famine (20 images)

An in-depth story on daily life in Mavinga, a little town in the Cuando Cubango, Angola.Three million people are facing death because of starvation. The warring parties to the Angolan civil war are turning blind eyes to the obvious, serious, and often acute humanitarian needs of the Angolan people. Both the Government and the UNITA rebel movement are guilty to this negligence. The medical and nutritional emergencies that MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières) Switzerland encounters due...
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An in-depth story on daily life in Mavinga, a little town in the Cuando Cubango, Angola.Three million people are facing death because of starvation. The warring parties to the Angolan civil war are turning blind eyes to the obvious, serious, and often acute humanitarian needs of the Angolan people. Both the Government and the UNITA rebel movement are guilty to this negligence. The medical and nutritional emergencies that MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières) Switzerland encounters due to its project in the field are not just a logic consequence of the civil war which ended on april 2002. To a large extend they are caused by the near-total neglect towards populations, the disrespect of international humanitarian law, and the military strategies of the parties to the conflict. The underlying causes for the emergencies include: * The near absence of governmental response to emergencies in areas under its control, resulting in very high levels of malnutrition and mortality. * Forced displacement caused by military strategies applied by both parties, which drive large populations from their land and then pin them down in restricted areas, where the authorities then fail to provide food or health care. * The inaccessibility, due to insecurity and road network. * The highly corrupted elite of the country.
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