Save the Children in Angola

Save the Children has worked in Angola since 1989, operating programs in health, education, child protection and poverty reduction – all to help Angolans rebuild their communities and work toward a better future. To better serve the great needs of children and best use the vital resources of our donors, Save the Children has merged programs and activities with other members of the International Save the Children Alliance also working in Angola.

Challenges for Children

Angola's civil war, which ended in 2002, destroyed infrastructures throughout the countryside and severely limited access to most basic services, such as education and child vaccination programs. The country suffered a polio outbreak in 1999 which affected over 1,000 people; the disease again re-emerged in various provinces in 2005. The war's affect on education has also been devastating. In Kibala District schools were destroyed and teachers went untrained for years, leaving a large number of children out of school and illiterate. 

Numbers at a Glance   

• 70 percent of the country's 17 million people live below the poverty line.
• For children under age 5, the mortality rate is 260 deaths per 1,000 births – more than one child in four dies before her or his fifth birthday.
• While the literacy rate among males is 82.1 percent, only 53.8 percent of females are literate and girls drop out of school at higher rates than boys – often before completing four years of primary education. 

Our Response

Health: The Polio Eradication Project, implemented in Kwanza Sul Province, continues to make an important contribution to the national polio eradication initiative. Save the Children supports national immunization days and campaigns, improves the quality of polio eradication and provides long-term assistance to families with paralyzed children.

Community Development: The Municipal Development program in Huambo Province links communities to local government through development forums. Through the forums, communities discuss their development priorities directly with local government administrators and all parties identify and implement social development projects, such as child daycare centers.

Education: Through the support of the ExxonMobil Foundation, Save the Children has built four new community schools and two health posts in Kwanza Sul Province. Working with the Angolan communities on the schools' construction, management and teacher selection, Save the Children ensured that the schools are safe, accessible and free – eliminating obstacles to girls attending school. For a number of children, the schools are now closer to their homes and they will no longer have to walk long distances, which was another barrier to education.

Save the Children will continue to expand programs in health and education to benefit children in Angola.  We also will seek to initiate activities such as the prevention and treatment of malaria – a major cause of child mortality, preventing HIV infections and early childhood development activities such as daycare centers and preschool teacher training.

 Life in Angola

"Studying is the most important thing in my life.
I will not slave away in the field like my mother and earn very little.
I want to be a doctor so I can help a whole lot of people and my family."
–Selestina, 14, Angola