Johannesburg - Carolyn McAskie, Emergency Relief Coordinator ad interim of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) arrived in the Angolan capital, Luanda, on Saturday at the head of an inter-agency mission.

A UN statement said the mission, sent at the request of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, would spend six days in Angola. McAskie visited the towns of Huambo and Kuito in the central highlands on Sunday, and is also scheduled to meet President Eduardo dos Santos and other senior officials.

The statement said the mission, which includes officials from UNHCR, WFP and UNICEF, "will undertake a comprehensive assessment of existing coordination arrangements. This mission occurs at a time of increasing attention to the issue of coordination of assistance for internally displaced peoples (IDPs)".