CARE-Angola opened its doors in 1989 in the midst of wide-scale civil war. The two-decade conflict ultimately killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of people, displaced another 1.2 million people, destroyed towns and cities, severely damaged the economy and left huge tracts of farmland untended and unproductive; the Lusaka Protocol, signed by Angolan Government and UNITA rebel forces on November 20, 1994, brought only an uneasy peace. Drought, the presence of 15 million landmines, and the collapse of traditional distribution and trading networks have left large segments of the population without access to basic goods and services, including food, clean water and health care.
Despite periodic political instability, CARE Angola has been able to evolve from mostly emergency-based activities to rehabilitation. Projects currently include: mother-child health; water and sanitation; landmine education awareness, mapping and clearance; and restoration of the agricultural and marketing sectors.
