Cease fire agreement signed. (Peacewatch: Angola).

After decades of civil war, the death of the rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) leader Jonas Savimbi in February has led to dramatic changes and opened up new opportunities for peace for the war-torn country. On 4 April, the Government of Angola and UNITA formally signed a ceasefire agreement. Speaking at the signing ceremony in Luanda, attended also by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, the Special Adviser for Special Assignments in Africa, Ibrahim Gambari, commended the two sides for choosing to abandon 'the path of death" and to explore instead the avenues of peace and reconciliation. Mr. Gambari noted that 27 years of war had reduced Angola to one of the world's poorest nations, despite its immense mineral wealth. He warned that nothing would be achieved if the country's "tenible humanitarian challenges" were not tackled immediately. 'The United Nations will continue to work with Angolan authorities and support the parties to consolidate peace, democracy and good governance ", he pledged, calling also on the international community "to give peace in Angola a chance by showing patience and demonstrating generosity".

On 30 March, the Secretary-General's Representative to Angola, Mussagy Jeichande, welcomed the ceasefire agreement between the two sides, reiterating that the United Nations stood ready to help establish peace in the war-torn nation. The ceasefire accord, he said at the signing ceremony in Luena, concluded the first phase of a process towards peace in Angola, "which we all want to be irreversible". He stressed that it required "an open and sincere dialogue", and was "the only way to achieve the true reconciliation". The peace plan included: a cessation of hostilities; a commitment to implement the outstanding features of the Lusaka Protocol; a massive emergency programme of humanitarian assistance; distribution of relief material without discrimination; and a comprehensive programme of national reconstruction.

Welcoming the Angolan Government's willingness to resume the peace process, the Security Council on 28 March called on UNITA to show that it too sought to achieve national reconciliation. It urged UNITA "to recognize the historic nature of this opportunity to end the conflict with dignity, to give a clear, positive response to the Government's offer of peace, to implement fully the Lusaka Protocol and to re-enter political life". The Council said it stood ready to consider appropriate and specific exemptions from and amendments to the measures imposed by resolution 1127 (1997), which banned travel by all senior UNITA officials and their immediate families. It emphasized the active role that the UN was expected to play in the implementation of the Lusaka Protocol, in close cooperation with the Government, and noted the need to renew, and possibly redefine, by 15 April, the mandate of the UN Office in Angola (UNOA).

RELATED ARTICLE: Benefit Concert for Angolan Refugee Children

Renowned Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, a UN Messenger of Peace, has announced that the proceeds from his next charity concert, scheduled for May 28 in Modena, Italy, will go to Angolan refugee children in Zambia. Last year, Mr. Pavarotti's benefit concert raised $1.5 million for Afghan refugee children in Pakistan. In 1999, a similar effort yielded more than $1 million for Kosovo refugees.

His focus on Angolan refugee children aims to draw attention to the plight of people affected by one of Africa's longest-running and deadliest civil wars. Around 4.5 million Angolans--a third of the population--are internally displaced, while another 450,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries. The money raised will be used primarily for health and education projects for the Angolan children in Zambia.