FOCUS
Promoting Health and Fighting Disease
Alleviating Hunger
Creating Economic Opportunities

MDGs ADDRESSED
MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
MDG 8: Create a global partnership for development

OVERVIEW
Angola continues to suffer the repercussions of a 27-year long civil war that ended in 2002. More than 1.5 million people were killed, four million were displaced, and much of the infrastructure was damaged, especially roads and communications systems in rural areas. Though Angola is rich in natural resources, the majority of Angolans living outside of its teeming capital city, Luanda, are dependent on farming for their livelihood. Unemployment is widespread, and 70% of people live below the poverty line.

Malaria is the leading cause of illness and death in Angola. Approximately 90% of the country is at risk of contracting malaria at any time of the year. HIV/AIDS is a growing concern given the high prevalence rate in neighboring countries and the repatriation of the armed forces, who have a much higher prevalence rate than the country as a whole.

Our PARTNER
Episcopal Relief and Development is partnering with the Anglican Diocese of Angola to implement community development programs that tackle the most urgent health-related issues in the country—malaria, HIV/AIDS, clean water and sanitation, nutrition and health care. The diocese is part of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa and consists of 26 parishes and 4,800 Anglican congregants.

Our CURRENT PROGRAMS
Episcopal Relief and Development is bringing long-term solutions to the challenges Angolans face by improving food production, building capacity to earn income, and preventing needless deaths from malaria, water-borne illnesses, and HIV/AIDS.

Episcopal Relief and Development is working in communities in Uige and Cunene provinces, and in Luanda, the capital city. Each area is severely affected by malaria. Cunene, a remote impoverished province on the Namibian border, suffers from a lack of water and sanitation infrastructure. Additionally, Cunene’s HIV/AIDS rate is as high as 25%, with an estimated 16,000 “vulnerable households” headed by children who have lost parents to the disease.

Promoting Health and Fighting Disease
Episcopal Relief and Development is providing essential health and sanitation resources, while teaching and equipping individuals to prevent malaria and HIV/AIDS and support those affected in their communities. Episcopal Relief and Development’s three-year commitment for malaria prevention activities will protect more than 297,000 people through 2008.

• Long-lasting insecticide-treated nets, along with training in the proper use of nets, ensures that the most vulnerable are protected from the Anopheles mosquitoes that transmit malaria.
• Trained malaria “agents” and volunteers instruct community members in malaria prevention and treatment methods.
• HIV/AIDS awareness workshops train clergy and community leaders to teach prevention methods in their communities and provide counseling to those affected by AIDS.
• Home-based care for people living with HIV/AIDS and support for children orphaned by the disease improves the quality of life of those suffering and the children left behind.
• Wells and latrines provide clean water and adequate sanitation to families in six villages in the remote Cunene province.

Alleviating Hunger
Episcopal Relief and Development is improving the production and quality of food sources by introducing new crops and training families in effective farming techniques.

• New seeds, crops, livestock and farming techniques improve the nutrition of families in six villages in the remote Cunene province.

Creating Economic Opportunities
Episcopal Relief and Development is using a micro-finance strategy to help vulnerable households develop economic stability. Families who are caring for orphaned children or those living with HIV/AIDS receive special focus.

• Micro-finance programs, including access to credit, increase families’ ability to expand their farming activities and develop new sources of household income.

Our PAST ACHIEVEMENTS
In 2006, Episcopal Relief and Development’s first year of involvement in Angola, nineteen wells were constructed and communities were trained in maintenance and management of the clean water source.