Active in Angola since 1978, UNFPA supports national objectives to achieve universal access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care. UNFPA works with the Government of Angola (GoA) and civil society to improve the lives of women, girls and young people, including in humanitarian settings. Our programmes provide access to and delivery of SRH information and services, including HIV and gender-based violence prevention, reducing maternal mortality and harmful cultural norms and practices, and ensuring no one is left behind in progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
UNFPA Angola 2021 Annual Report
Building forward with resilience and innovation
UNFPA Angola Country Office 2021 Annual Report
Message from the Representative
Resilience can be defined as the ability or capacity to recover from adverse situations. For young people, adolescents, pregnant mothers, children and infants in Angola who faced the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged drought in the south, resilience meant survival. For the UNFPA Angola Country Office (CO), 2021 certainly tested our capacity to rebuild, strengthen and sustain our projects and keep marching forward with our mandate to realize universal sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Dr.Mady Biaye, Representative UNFPA Angola
About the RepresentativeIn 2021, UNFPA continued implementing the 8th (2020-2022) Country Programme (CP). The CP is aligned with Angola’s National Development Plan (2018 – 2022) and was prepared in close coordination with the GoA, United Nations agencies, civil society organizations, and youth representatives. The CP addresses the priorities established in the Long-Term Development Strategy (Angola 2050) and contributes to the SDGs and the African Union Agenda 2063. For UNFPA, the CP results for 2021 also contribute to the achievement of universal access to sexual and reproductive health as outlined in the UNFPA Strategic Plan 2018 – 2021 which is centred on the promise of the International Conference on Population Development (ICPD) – that is ensuring and protecting rights and choices for all.
In 2021, UNFPA worked with partners to support health systems to deliver core services to women and their newborn infants, young people, and men. Programme activities included: support to provide quality maternal and neonatal care within the constraints of limited availability of health units due to COVID-19 closures; expanding modern contraceptive methods at health facilities and increasing youth-friendly facilities; equipping women and young people with skills and knowledge to make informed decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health; and strengthening institutions to provide comprehensive prevention and response to gender-based violence. UNFPA also partnered with government agencies on generating and using effective, disaggregated data on inequality and vulnerability to guide policy-making and evidence-based advocacy for sexual and reproductive rights.
3 KEY RESULTS
Humanitarian Response
In the southern region of Angola, farmlands lie desolate; grazing animals have been replaced by decaying corpses, hunger is normal and thousands have moved from their homes to survive. The worst drought in four decades has destroyed 40 per cent of the region’s crops. Already, prone to cyclical droughts and floods, intensifying climate impacts have affected rainfall, prolonging the dry season and interrupting food production.
UNFPA responded to the humanitarian situation (cyclical drought) in the Southern provinces of Angola enabled by two key partnerships. Through a World Bank loan to the Government of Angola, administered by the Angolan Ministry of Health (MINSA), UNFPA purchased and distributed 50,000 dignity kits in Huila, Cunene, Namibe and Cuando-Cubango – the worst-affected provinces. At the same time, under the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), UNFPA reached over 143 000 people affected by the drought. The response included the distribution of 25,500 dignity kits to women and girls of reproductive age, 113 337 clean delivery kits to pregnant women and girls, and 60 birth attendant kits in health units. These kits are used for various procedures including births, treating sexually transmitted infections (STI) and treating sexual violations. To ensure an integrated humanitarian response, 780 community awareness sessions were held combining vital information on SRHR and GBV prevention. Notably, 5000 men and boys received key messages on GBV and SRHR-related issues.
IMPACT STORY
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Over the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic increased the vulnerability of marginalized populations and made it even more challenging to deliver essential SRH services. For young people, limited access to SRH services results in the unmet need for contraception leading to unwanted pregnancies and drives up the number of unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted infections. The adolescent birth rate for Angola is among the highest in the East and Southern Africa region at 163 live births per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19 years; and while COVID-19 may have overshadowed the HIV epidemic, young people - especially adolescent girls and young women - account for 30 per cent of new infections.
To maintain sexual and reproductive health in drought-affected areas, from August to November 2021, UNFPA in partnership with the World Bank and the Angolan Ministry of Health (MINSA) provided over 41,000 women and girls in 22 municipalities across four provinces (Cuando-Cubango, Cunene, HuΓla and Namibe) with the Minimum Initial Services Package (MISP). MISP services include family planning, antenatal consultations, care for normal and complicated births and care for sick newborns. In addition to the distribution of dignity kits, community engagement activities took place that focused on early pregnancy and HIV/ STI prevention. The importance of antenatal care and institutional deliveries were also disseminated during the community activities.
SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS
KEY RESULTS FOR 2021