Capital: Luanda
Area: 1,246,700 km²
Population: 11.2 million (July 2005)
Ethnic groups: Mbundu, Bakongo, Kimbundu, Chokwe-Lunda
Official language(s): Portuguese
Religion(s): Christian (Catholic), indigenous traditional beliefs
Currency: 1 kwanza = 100 lwei
SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country
The social situation in Angola has been badly marred by over 20 years of civil war. The need for social welfare facilities, especially for the many refugees and war orphans, is great. SOS-Kinderdorf International and the Angolan government first held talks in 1986 and eventually, in 1992, an official government agreement was signed.
In 1994, construction started on the first SOS Children's Village, on a plot of land made available by the government, in Lubango. Over the years other SOS Children's Village Facilities came about in Lubango and in the coastal town of Benguela. The government gives financial support to the schemes of SOS Children's Villages by paying annual subsidies towards the running costs.
Because of the tense social conditions faced by the population in Angola, SOS Emergency Relief Programmes have been continuously carried out since 1994 including feeding centres, literacy programmes for refugee children and material support for neighbouring orphanages and medical centres.
Following a meningitis epidemic in 1994, SOS Angola also carried out an immunisation programme, providing 40,000 units of serum. As of 2005, the emergency relief programmes in Lubango and Benguela were converted, step by step, into family strengthening programmes aimed at enabling children who are at risk of losing the care of their family to grow within a caring family environment. To achieve this, SOS Children’s Villages works directly with families and communities to empower them to effectively protect and care for their children, in cooperation with local authorities and other service providers.
At present there are two SOS Children's Villages, one SOS Youth Facility, two SOS Kindergartens, two SOS Hermann Gmeiner Schools, one SOS Vocational Training Centre, two SOS Medical Centres and two SOS Social Centres (Family Strengthening Programmes) in Angola.
Contact:
Aldeia de Crianças SOS Angola
Caixa Postal 332
Lubango
Angola
tel. +244 2612 45101
fax +244 2612 45 101