Agostinho Neto Pioneer Organization (, OPA) is a

pioneer movement A pioneer movement is an youth organization, organization for children operated by a communist party. Typically children enter into the organization in elementary school and continue until adolescence. The adolescents then typically join the Yo ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. It is part of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). OPA is led in its day-to-day affairs by the MPLA Youth.

History

It was founded on 1 December 1963 as the "Kudianguelas" by MPLA co-founder

Lúcio Lara Lúcio Rodrigo Leite Barreto de Lara (9 April 1929 – 27 February 2016), also known by the pseudonym Tchiweka, was an Angolan revolutionary, physicist-mathematician, politician, anti-colonial ideologist and one of the founding members (and pres ...

. It was originally created for the children of guerrillas. Founded as the Pioneers in 1975, the organization took the name of the nation's first president

Agostinho Neto António Agostinho Neto (17 September 1922 – 10 September 1979) was an Angolan Communism, communist politician and poet. He served as the first president of Angola from 1975 to 1979, having led the MPLA, Popular Movement for the Liberation of ...

at its second conference in November 1979, following Neto's death. In the 1980s, it received support from

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, which sent the pioneering organization a lecturer to Angola for socialist indoctrination in August 1982. In December 2003, a cooperation protocol was signed between OPA and the Angolan Ministry of Education, and in October 2014 also with the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

, the National Children's Institute and the Scout Association. In 2004 it had about 147,000 and in 2014 about 600,000 members aged 8 to 17 in all 18 provinces of the country.

Mission

The OPA aims to improve knowledge of national symbols, reinforce national values, with a view to preserving national identity, as well as moral, civic and patriotic education. To this end, it organizes cultural, social and recreational activities such as the ''Children's'' Carnival, the National Song Festival, performing arts competitions, excursions to monuments and places of historical interest and, in collaboration with the scouts, excursions and holiday camps.

References

{{Authority control MPLA Pioneer movement Youth organizations established in the 1970s Youth wings of political parties in Angola