Although HALO currently employs over 800 Angolan staff, only two years ago they numbered over 1,100.
Funding for the Angolan programme has reduced over the years despite the fact that the problem of landmines remains serious and widespread – in the first five months of 2010 HALO Angola deminers found and destroyed an average of 575 landmines a month.
HALO has spent over 15 years clearing landmines in Angola and, with sufficient capacity in terms of deminers on the ground, could achieve a mine free Angola within a reasonable time frame. HALO feels that this is the time to increase international funding for mineclearance in Angola so that the horrific landmine legacy of Angola’s civil war can be laid to rest and Angola’s people allowed to flourish and grow. This is the time to focus on achieving a mine free Angola so that Angolans can be able to provide their families with sufficient food and clean water, collect firewood without losing their limbs and, ultimately, move beyond a subsistence livelihood and achieve their development dreams.