Aid in the midst of plenty: oil wealth, misery and advocacy in Angola.
This paper examines advocacy initiatives by humanitarian and human rights organisations to address problems of governance in resource-rich and conflict-affected countries, focussing on the case of Angola. Humanitarian principles preclude the use of indiscriminate conditionality and point towards a cautious approach to advocacy aimed at assisting vulnerable populations. Furthermore, the relatively insignificant amount of aid supplied to resource-rich local authorities means that individual agencies have precious little leverage, especially when commercial interests rather than humanitarian or 'good governance' principles influence the priorities of bilateral donors. A context of resource wealth calls for: high levels of coordination and cooperation between human rights groups, aid agencies and donors; balanced use of conditionality, based on the drawing, by donors, of a clear distinction between emergency and development-oriented assistance; and a sustained effort to highlight the responsibilities of local authorities, foreign governments and businesses in meeting humanitarian and development objectives.
Le Billon
Philippe
P
Department of Geography and Liu Institute for Global Issue, University of British Columbia, Canada.
D000810:Angola; D045809:Human Rights Abuses / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D009938:Organizations; D010578:Petroleum; D011057:Politics; D012066:Relief Work / Q000458:organization & administration*; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D014857:Warfare
D010578:Petroleum