Angola

War and Rehabilitation

Angola faced a civil war after regaining independence from Portugal in 1975. In 1992, an attempt to organize democratic elections culminated in the return to war due to a disagreement between the two main parties, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) over the presidential election results. In 2002, after the death of the UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi, peace agreements were signed in Luena, and in 2008, new legislative elections confirmed the MPLA government. Peace consolidation, reconstruction, and development have become the main concerns in recent years in a country with significant resources of oil and diamonds.

Despite important investments in the rehabilitation of the country's infrastructure, most of the population still faces huge difficulties in regard to education and health and remains concentrated in the urban centers—mainly in Luanda—to escape hunger and insecurity. In this concentration, social networks represent a valuable resource to the efficiency of informal economic processes. Mark Granovetter supports that historically, the poor have formed networks of reciprocity and exchange in response to economic insecurity.

Religion, and in particular Christian Catholic and Protestant missions through their churches, schools, health posts, and charitable works, are also central in fostering social ties and linking individuals and communities, thus generating knowledge exchange and, in some cases, mobilizing for collective action. These church social ties have also influenced Angola's ethnically charged politics. Angola has several ethnic groups, some of which are at the origin of the most influential political parties: MPLA had the support of the Ambundu, the Angolan National Liberation Front (FNLA) resulted from the Bakongo, and UNITA emerged from the Ovimbundu and Tchokwe-Lunda.

[Page 43]The organization of legislative elections and the effort to decentralize some of the administrative decision centers opened more space to citizens' opinions and participation, encouraging more individuals and communities to gather around common interests. The municipal networks and forums linked to the Councils of Auscultation and Social Consensus provide good examples of citizenship practices and function as a stimulus to emergent networks and interest groups. These practices may be interpreted as a new version of the village jangos, a public space where communities gather to debate.

In an attempt to provide solutions to the country's most pressing problems, civil society organizations and other social and political actors concerned with human rights are also creating networks to respond more meaningfully to the evolving contexts. Various networks on different issues were created to provide solutions and to influence public policies. Examples include the Electoral Network, which gives assistance in civic and electoral education; and conflict resolution, related to elections and electoral campaigns, which are potential foci of violence and ethnic hatred. There are also network initiatives at national, provincial, and local levels to support the population facing HIV/AIDS (including the Hope Network, among others); to protect children and disabled persons; or to promote gender equality (such as the Women's Network). The Land Network aims to influence public policies related to land tenure, access, and use, and organizes debates among stakeholders through popular consultancies before presenting concrete proposals to Parliament. There is also a similar initiative to support the development of small enterprises, called Angolan Micro Enterprise Network (RASME).

...