SFCG Angola

Search For Common Ground (SFCG) established an office in Angola in 1996 to support the peace and reconciliation process in the post-Lusaka phase. We are based in Luanda and Cabinda, with a full-time radio production studio.

Using a community outreach toolbox that includes conflict resolution training, community organizing, facilitation, and youth empowerment, SFCG seeks to transform Angolan society into a culture of coexistence, security, social justice and popular participation.

Engaging Youth through Conflict Resolution Centers

The Conflict Resolution Centers established by Search For Common Ground (SFCG) with support from British Petroleum (BP) seek to support a peaceful future for Angola through supporting youth as actors in peacebuilding and community engagement.

Launched in 2011, the project builds on SFCG's experience in Angola, and aims to promote the role of youth in the Angolan society and increase the confidence of youth leaders to engage in their communities to foster change. The project seeks to build the capacity of youth to identify key issues in society and learn how to address them by carrying out concrete activities in response to these key issues.

Learn more about Engaging Youth through Conflict Resolution Centers...

The Team

SFCG is pleased to bring The Team a football-themed (soccer) television series, to Angola. The Team is a multi-nation episodic drama in which Search for Common Ground has merged the global appeal of football with soap opera to help transform social attitudes and diminish violent behavior in countries grappling with deeply rooted conflict. The television series addresses the very real divisive issues facing societies in a dozen African, Asian and Middle Eastern countries.

Learn more about The Team...

The Team, or A Equipa, centers on an imagined Angolan football club and serves as an entry point for dialogue on sensitive themes of governance, participation, and transparency. The telenovella explores governance issues through the interactions between the players, captains, coaches, officials and through the players' personal lives. The storylines model different approaches to collaborative problem solving, metaphorically addressing the tensions in Angola's decentralisation process, including the role of leaders and authority figures in a democratic environment, the importance of transparency and consultation between leaders and constituents, and the importance of constructive advocacy.

Learn more about The Team in Angola...

School Parliament

In 2009, Search for Common Ground (SFCG) began the school parliament initiative in order to work with youth in a strategic, appropriate, and sustainable manner. This project focuses on the creation of a new generation of young Angolan leaders. SFCG had previously worked with Angolan adolescents and youth facing problems of delinquency, and also with members of street gangs who were responsible for acts such as theft, smoking illegal substances, street violence, prostitution, and rape. To respond to the manipulation and frustration of youth, SFCG with IASED (Instituto Angola de Sistemas Electorais e Democracia) established the first school parliament, in order to attain the objective of creating a young generation of leaders.

With funding from the European Union Delegation in Luanda, SFCG continued the School Parliament project to empower Angola's youth. SFCG works with young Angolans from 50 secondary schools in Luanda and 25 in Cabinda in a series of interactive activities engaging them in civic education. The School Parliament provides opportunities for youth to debate current issues and make policy decisions, providing first-hand experience in the process of governing and responding to constituents. The concepts of democratic principles and constitutional processes specific to Angola are introduced and then combined with practical experience. The Parliament is linked with weekly radio programs, which highlight different project themes and share them with youth all across Angola.

Learn more about the School Parliament...

Outreach Projects

Civil Society Empowerment

SFCG works with local civil society partner groups across eight provinces to build their capacity to design, implement, and monitor local projects, which bring communities together in search of creative solutions to common problems. Members of these groups are drawn from traditional and local leaders, local NGOs and associations, clergy, and local government officials. SFCG-facilitated community dialogues have become an important step in helping community members, and the civil society groups that represent them, to identify and prioritize community needs, and communicate those expectations to the government. At the heart of a successful communication strategy between communities, civil society and government is collaboration. SFCG led dialogues have built community solidarity and created supportive environments in which community members can address issues, including around community development, land rights, and the election process.

Learn more about Outreach Projects and Civil Society Empowerment...

Radio Projects - Studio N'Jango

In early 2005, SFCG established a professional radio in Angola, Studio N'Jango. This studio produces programmes that are distributed to partner radio stations in Luanda and rural provinces. Studio N'Jango offers training sessions focused on topics such as Intended Outcome Programming, interviewing techniques, reporting in conflict zones, and using civil society as sources for information. Through the Studio's radio programming and journalist outreach, SFCG multiplies the impact of its community outreach work by making its message available to wider audiences, including those without regular information access due to illiteracy or geographical isolation.

Learn more about Radio Projects - Studio N'Jango...

SFCG Angola thanks the following donors for their support