Detailed Implementation Timeline: Lusaka Protocol

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Detailed Implementation Timeline: Lusaka Protocol

Implementations

Detailed Implementation Timeline – 1994

The major elements of the timeline — namely, the ceasefire phases and demobilization by the forces of both sides — were not met in 1994.

Detailed Implementation Timeline – 1995

In November of 1995, one full year after the Lusaka Accord, “the phased billeting of government and UNITA troops to 15 UN-built quartering areas (now in the process of completion) has not yet begun.” The plan, coming from the Lusaka Accord, was for 200,000 troops to be merged into a national army, with around half of that number to be later demobilized after a period of on-the-job training.1

  1. “Angola’s Peace Grows More Tense by the Day,” Guardian Weekly, November 5, 1995.

Detailed Implementation Timeline – 1996

“It is disturbing that, more than one year after the signing of the Lusaka Protocol (which ended the war in November 1994), the quartering of UNITA troops — one of the central elements in the peace process — has not made any significant progress,” argued the Secretary-General (Inter Press Service (IPS), 1996).1

In March, President José Eduardo dos Santos and UNITA leader Mr. Jonas Savimbi met and agreed to a revised timetable for the Lusaka Accord.2

Limited progress was reported on the revised timetable and the major elements of the accord. “Expectations which were raised in June and July for the expeditious completion of the quartering of UNITA troops, the selection of its soldiers for incorporation into the Angolan Armed Forces and the demobilization of ex-combatants, have also been disappointed.”3

  1. “Angola: U.N. Voices Frustration with UNITA,” Inter Press Service (IPS), February 2, 1996.
  2. “Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III),” U.N. Security Council (S/1996/248), April 4, 1996.
  3. “Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III),” U.N. Security Council (S/1996/827), October 4, 1996.

Detailed Implementation Timeline – 1997

The United Nations Security Council decided to maintain its peacekeeping force in Angola for a final month because the peace timetable of the Lusaka Protocol had not been met.1

The UN Security Council reported major delays in the formation of the reconciliation government because UNITA, the opposition, had fallen behind in the implementation of the peace timetable.2

The Joint Commission adopted an updated timetable for the implementation of the outstanding provisions of the Lusaka Accord.3

  1. “U.N. Extends its Angola Force One Last Month.” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, February 27, 1997.
  2. “U.N. Council Decries Slow Political Settlement in Angola,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, January 30, 1997.
  3. “UN Security Council Extends Angola Mission Until 16 April,” M2 PressWIRE, April 2, 1997.

Detailed Implementation Timeline – 1998

The United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA), the Angolan government, and UNITA set another revised “final” timetable for demobilization to be completed by 28 February 1998. It was reported that none of the elements in the timetable had been met. On 11 March, they set another new timetable of 1 April 1998, which was also not met.1

Angolan media sources reported that the Angolan countryside was at war.2

The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) coded the conflict between the Angolan government and UNITA as reaching the threshold of “war” in 1998 with over 1000 total deaths in the year.3

In the last issuance of 1998, MONUA reported that the Government of Angola and UNITA forces had continued to perform extensive military operations and that MONUA personnel, under phase IV of their security plan, were withdrawn from all provinces.4

  1. “Angola Peace Monitor,” Africa News 4, no. 7 (March 1998).
  2. “UNITA: Back to the Path of War,” Africa News, August 5, 1998.
  3. “UCDP Conflict Encyclopedia,” Uppsala Conflict Data Program, accessed February 22, 2013.
  4. “Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA),” U.N. Security Council (S/1998/1110), November 23, 1998.