Clinton ups Angola aid, flies to Congo

LUANDA, Angola, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed an agreement to help Angola battle AIDS Monday in Luanda before leaving for Congo.

Clinton and Angolan Minister of External Relations Assuncao Afonso dos Anjos signed a framework to combat HIV/AIDS, part of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, during a meeting at an AIDS clinic in Luanda, the State Department said in a release.

Under the agreement, the United States will boost its funding to fight AIDS in Angola from $7 million to $17 million, officials said.

"This framework represents a new approach to our government's fight against HIV/AIDS," Clinton said. "It emphasizes a bottoms-up approach tailored for and by the country we are assisting. It represents an expansion of local capacity and healthcare systems that can last over time."

Also, she said, the new framework "will place greater attention of the affect of HIV/AIDS on women."

Clinton, in the midst of an 11-day trip, seven-country trip to Africa, left Angola Monday afternoon and landed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, telling reporters she would concentrate on campaigning against sexual violence toward women and seeking an end to civil conflicts in eastern Congo, The New York Times reported.

Clinton used her visit to Angola to try to strengthen ties with the oil-rich African nation and nudge it toward democracy. On Sunday, she emphasized the positive in her two-day visit, praising Angola's efforts to rebuild after a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002, The Washington Post reported.