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Nov 5th, 2009 by Gisele Willybiro, OCHA
Oct 14th, 2009 by Gisele Willybiro, OCHA
Oct 9th, 2009 by Gisele Willybiro, OCHA
As part of its multi-donor program which aims at recovering the agropastoral sector in Ouham Pendé prefecture (northern CAR), the Danish Council for Refugees (DRC) supported the establishment of a multifunctional platform (MFP) in Paoua, a first in CAR. This initiative aims, using a pilot community approach, to provide an energy source (generator) that supplies supplying various kinds of production equipment, such as mills, crushers, peelers, welding stations, etc.
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Oct 4th, 2009 by Gisele Willybiro, OCHA
On October 2, Ms. Sahle-Work Zewde, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations (SRSG), paid a working visit to Birao in the north-eastern CAR. The visit enabled the SRSG to interact with various military officials, humanitarian organizations, and civil society in a part of the country that has long been ravaged by political and military conflict.
Oct 1st, 2009 by Gisele Willybiro, OCHA
Sep 28th, 2009 by Tino Kreutzer, HDPT CAR
Representatives of 11 European governments and the United States announced on September 15 to forgive USD 55.6 million of a total of USD 59.3 million owed by the Central African Republic to these countries from loans given since 1983. The cancelation marks an important step towards improving the CAR government’s standing among creditor countries and investors, and follows shortly after it reached its completion point under the ‘enhanced initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries’ (HIPC) in June 2009. Continue Reading »
Sep 18th, 2009 by Hyewon Lee UNICEF
The UNICEF office in the Central African Republic has just published their monthly report for August 2009. It contains an overview on the current humanitarian, political and security situation, and provides an update on UNICEF’s ongoing activities in CAR.
Here is the summary of activities and events in August 2009:
Click here to download the report
For more information on UNICEF’s activities in the Central African Republic contact:
Hyewon Lee | Reports Officer | UNICEF CAR
Email: hlee@unicef.org | Tel. +236 75 70 63 90
Aug 29th, 2009 by Boris Ngouagouni, OCHA
Humanitarian evaluation mission in the far east
Following a recent spate of attacks by elements of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), both in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and in several villages in the far east of the Central African Republic, including looting, abduction and killings, a joint mission comprising UN agencies and international and national NGOs left Bangui on Wednesday 19 August bound for Mboki and Obo.
The aim of the mission is both to evaluate current unmet needs and to deliver humanitarian aid to vulnerable people.
At the moment, the mission is in Mboki, 75km south of Obo. Initial analysis of the current situation concerning the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees present suggest a greater number than expected, and refugees continue to arrive.
A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also left Bangui on 21 August bound for the far east.
On 17 August, a few days previously, inhabitants of Gougbéré, 8km from Obo, spotted an LRA scout in the vicinity and called the Ugandan army contingent based in Obo to patrol the area. The scout was subsequently arrested and remains in detention.
Some inhabitants of Central African villages suffering from LRA attacks are believed to have fled to South Sudan.
For more information: Alexis Mbolinani, JUPEDEC| (236) 70 40 70 42| mbolinani@yahoo.fr
Awareness-raising caravan for DDR in Bangui
On Saturday 22 August a caravan took to the streets of the capital to raise awareness and provide information on the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) campaign, officially launched by the government on 13 August.
According to participants, the aim of the caravan is to explain the why and how of the DDR process to both ex-combattants and the general population of Bangui.
Organised by the Ministry of Communication and National Reconciliation, the caravan included banners throughout the city, and distributed T-shirts.
World Humanitarian Day celebrated in CAR
The inaugural World Humanitarian Day was celebrated on Wednesday 19 August in the capital, with a ceremony and an exhibition of UN agencies and national and international NGOs showcasing the various humanitarian activities currently being carried out in the country.
Coordinated by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the celebration was attended by the Central African Prime Minister, Faustin Archange Touadera, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms Sahle-Work Zewde and the interim Humanitarian Coordinatior, Ms Sitta Kai-Kai.
The day was an occasion for the general public to discover more about humanitarian work in different sectors, understand what projects are being carried out, how they are organised and financed, and how they benefit the population.
During the exhibition, films were shown highlighting the humanitarian situation in the north-west and the recent visit by the Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Ms Catherine Bragg, allowing the people of Bangui to better understand the situation of IDPs and people living in vulnerable regions across the north.
In Paoua, in the north-west of the country, the local authorities joined the humanitarian communities in celebrating the day with various activities including donation of blood by staff and authorities to help the regional hospital in Paoua, managed by the French division of Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF).
The aim of the blood drive is to help save lives in this area of the country which has seen years of military-political crises. The hospital currently has a severe shortage of blood, with 140 bags required for the paediatric ward alone. Needs are particularly high during the rainy season running from June to October, due to the elevated incidences of malaria with anemia.
For more information: Nick Imboden, OCHA| (236) 75 54 63 55| imboden@un.org
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Aug 22nd, 2009 by Boris Ngouagouni, OCHA
1,207 refugees and 2,725 displaced in the far east
As a result of attacks of fighters of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) on the villages of Gassimbala (15 km east of Obo) and Koubou (10 km east of Obo), the majority of the villages’ inhabitants have fled to Obo town fearing the violence of the attacks.
According to a survey conducted on 17 August by members of the NGO United Youth for the Protection of the Environment and Community Development (JUPEDEC), 225 people have arrived from Gassimbala and 281 people from Koubou.
Three of the people (two men and a woman) captured by the LRA during the previous attacks on Gougbere in order to help carry their loot, were set free by their captors on 15 August at Kerre 2 as they moved north-west. Other abducted people remain in the hands of the LRA, including two girls of 13 and 14 years of age who were captured in Gougbere in an attack which cost the life of one villager.
According to JUPEDEC, there are now 1,207 refugees from DRC in CAR (849 in Mboki and 358 in Obo) fleeing LRA attacks south of the border, and a total of 2,725 IDPs from the villages of Gassimbala, Koubou, Ligoua, Gougbere, Dindiri, Kamou and Ndigba who have all fled LRA attacks.
A joint mission of UN agencies and international NGOs left Bangui on Wednesday 19 August bound for Obo.
The aim of this mission is to bring humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people and assess currently.
For more information: Alexis Mbolinani, JUPEDEC| (236) 70 40 70 42| mbolinani@yahoo.fr and Joseph Benamse, OCHA| (236) 70 98 82 34| benamse@un.org
Gabonese MICOPAX contingent in Paoua
On Monday August the new commander of the Peace-building Mission in CAR (MICOPAX), General Hector Marie Tchemo, took command in a ceremony led by President François Bozizé.
During the ceremony, the President reaffirmed the importance of MICOPAX to the current peace process.
The Gabonese contingent is starting its deployment in CAR in Paoua, in the north-west.
13 August: DDR programme officially launched
“The Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reinsertion (DDR) programme begins today”, the Central African President François Bozizé announced on 13 August in Paoua in the north-west during the celebrations for the 49th anniversary of CAR independence.
The ceremony was attended by Jean-Jacques Démafouth, first vice-president of the DDR steering committee and president of the Popular Army for the Restauration of Democracy (APRD), one of the major armed groups controlling most of Ouham-Pendé prefecture in CAR’s north-west.
According to the Minister of Communication, Cyriaque Gonda, the first phase of the programme involves an information and awareness-raising campaign and will last from 13 August to 13 September. The second phase, identification of the ex-rebel combatants, will follow thereafter.
The Minister continued by saying that the DDR process will be implemented in five prefectures, across the north, notably Ouham Pendé, Ouham, Nana-Gribizi, Haute Kotto and the Vakaga. It will involve between 6,000 and 10,000 ex-combatants, and the process is expected to last for 36 months.
Human rights training for heads of orphanages
“Closer understanding of the needs of orphans” is the central theme of a training event which started on 17 August for about 40 teachers and heads of orphanages in the city of Bangui. The training, organised by the NGO Christian Action for Compassion (ACC) in partnership with the UN Peace-building office in CAR (BONUCA) aims to reinforce the capacities of these leaders following a participatory approach.
It also aims to educate the participants on the basic principles of human rights.
The ACC president, Ms Boubandé, said, “given the current context of repeated armed conflicts in certain regions of the country, we think that it is urgent to launch a large-scale awareness-building campaign for our leaders, in order to equip them with sufficient knowledge of human rights as well as to fight against all forms of violence and violation of these rights.”
She continued by saying that the training would help to return hope to vulnerable orphans, children and women.
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Aug 19th, 2009 by Nick Imboden, HDPT CAR
The first World Humanitarian Day was celebrated in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR) on 19 August with a ceremony and exhibition of humanitarian work attended by the Prime Minister of CAR and members of the government, the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) of the United Nations, diplomats and many members of the humanitarian community.
Six years ago, a truck-bomb exploded in Baghdad killing twenty-two people, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and one of the world’s great humanitarians, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Worldwide, more than 700 humanitarian workers have lost their lives in the past decade.
In CAR, a nurse working for an international NGO was shot and killed in 2007. SRSG Sahle-Work Zewde stated, “This year alone, humanitarian workers have been subjected to ambushes and armed robbery by bandits who threatened to execute them and left them stranded in the bush. They have been taken hostage by people who seek ransom, or who question their impartiality. But they are still here, and they deserve our praise and solidarity.” The occasion was marked by a minute of silence to remember the sacrifices which people all over the world have made to bring assistance to others.
Fragile progress
The Central African Republic is one of the world’s poorest countries, currently ranking second from bottom (178th of 179) on the Humanitarian Development Index. It has suffered from insecurity and violence across the north for half a decade, causing over 100,000 refugees to flee the country and a similar number to hide in the bush, too afraid to return home.
Since 2007, the international community has become increasingly aware of what was previously an all but forgotten conflict, causing humanitarian aid to increase from $10 million in 2005 to more than $100 million in 2008. It currently accounts for more than 30% of total overseas assistance to the country, and has proven particularly effective in targeting fragile zones across the north where development aid is slowest to arrive.
Resurgent crisis
Despite this, the situation remains precarious. Humanitarian funding to date in 2009 has fallen significantly. The UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund contributed $2.8 million recently, recognising it as an underfunded emergency. Even so, over $40 million of humanitarian needs cited in the country’s Coordinated Aid Programme (CAP) remain unmet. Continue Reading »
Aug 15th, 2009 by Boris Ngouagouni, OCHA
Capture of 5 LRA officers in the south-east
According to local authorities, on Wednesday 5 August the Ugandan Army unit currently based in Obo, in CAR’s far south-east, captured five officers of the rebel group Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) after clashes in the village of Goubéré, 5km from Obo.
The same sources confirmed that some villagers were able to rapidly warn the Ugandan contingent after the LRA attack on their village.
The five officers captured, including a Captain, are likely to be transferred to Kampala by the Ugandans.
The number of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo has now risen to 1,500, split between the towns of Obo and Mboki, 75km further west.
Visit by French Ambassador to WFP food distribution in Paoua
Invited by the UN’s World Food Program (WFP), the French Ambassador to CAR Jean-Pierre Vidon made a field visit to the Paoua sub-prefecture in the north-west of the country.
During his visit, the Ambassador took part in the distribution of food at Bekila 2, 20km from Paoua, to displaced people who are currently living in the bush too afraid to return to their villages and fields.
The distribution benefited 1,782 people displaced from six villages, who received 29 tons of food including corn flour, salt, beans and cooking oil.
Mr Vidon stated that the aim of the visit was to reaffirm France’s solidarity with Central Africans in distress. He cited the various financial contributions made by France since 2007 to humanitarian agencies and NGOs including WFP, FAO, Solidarités, ACTED, and Première Urgence to help provide relief to people affected by conflicts and humanitarian disasters. According to the Ambassador, this support also helps boost development, improve communication and encourage children’s education. This is why France gave US $650,000 to WFP to help them respond to emergencies.
Welcoming the ambassador, the sub-prefect and the spokesman for the displaced community expressed their gratitude to all those working to help them but emphasised that a lot still needed to be done to help them return to their villages and get access to basic social services.
For more information: Sylvestre Ndayirukiye, OCHA | (236) 72 79 18 24| ndayirukiye@un.org
Social reinsertion for more than 300 unemployed women
The Minister for Social Affairs, Bernadette Sayo, together with the Minister of National Education Ambroise Zawa and the President of the Central African Association of Women Educators (AFEDEC), helped to launch a project for the training and reinsertion of unemployed young women in Bangui on 7 August.
According to Mr Zawa, the project not only aims to ensure professional training for more than 300 women but to identify those who are abroad to encourage them to return. Through the project, he asserted, the women would obtain qualifications in the fields of marketing, public relations, hospitality and fashion.
To further help young women facing deadlines for the Baccalaureate, AFEDEC had organised a refresher training for 210 female students from less stable backgrounds currently in the 3rd and final school grades. This training enabled them to get better results in the examinations. The association also organised a competition to get more than 200 girls express their points of views and aspirations on how the government and civil society organisations can contribute to their well-being.
AFEDEC is currently looking for funding to support orphaned students who have obtained their Baccalaureate ‘C’ with distinction and who would like to study medicine. The association is also seeking funding to set up a centre for girls not in education who are currently living in Bangui (including those not from the capital) and to continue support to those unemployed women currently being trained, to start in their chosen careers.
For more information: Mme Dorothée Malénzapa, AFEDEC | (236) 75 50 63 29| dmalenzapa@yahoo.fr
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Aug 12th, 2009 by Kersten Jauer, HDPT CAR
The Central African Republic (CAR) is a land-locked, conflict-ridden and desperately poor country the size of France, which has gone through 30 years of economic and social decline. In 2008 it ranked 178 out 179 on the UN’s Human Development Index, making CAR one of only two African countries that have not seen any development progress since the early 1980s.
Heavily dependent on diamond and wood exports, CAR has been hit quicker and harder by the global economic crisis than most other African states. High production costs – due to small-scale methods, prohibitive transportation costs and very high costs of doing business – severely limit the competitiveness of CAR’s exports. Reductions in global demand therefore quickly translate into production cuts, layoffs and declining government revenue. The global economic crisis represents a severe risk for CAR’s fragile economy and political system.
Source: World Bank Country Assistance Strategy CAR (2009)
Heavily concentrated in the South, diamond production (in carats) declined almost 80 percent from peak to trough during the course of 2008, or 21 percent compared to 2007. Wood production declined more than 70 percent from peak to trough, or 20 percent compared to 2007. There are no reliable unemployment statistics. Yet, companies working in the South confirm that most of Central Africans previously working in mining and forestry have been laid off.
The social impact on the previously stable southern regions has been severe. Collapsing incomes have led to increasing social tensions among the unemployed population. Malnutrition rates among children have risen rapidly, as parents are no longer able to provide for their children. About 16 percent of children under five are acutely malnourished in the three most heavily affected provinces. Alarmingly, almost 7 percent are severely acutely malnourished. With the northern parts of CAR locked-down in rebellion, Continue Reading »
Aug 8th, 2009 by Boris Ngouagouni, OCHA
Displacement towards Obo in far east following attacks by LRA
According to local authorities, following attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) on the villages of Goubéré (5km north-west of Obo) and Ligoua (20km south-east of Obo), more than 1,000 people from Goubéré have temporarily relocated to the prefectoral school in Obo town in the far east of CAR. A further 100 people from Ligoua are reported to be currently accommodated by host families in Obo.
Improving governance in CAR
On 30 and 31 July the Framework Programme for Governance and Decentralisation (PCGD) validated its report for the 2nd quarter and the workplan for the 3rd quarter. Participating at the meeting were, amongst others, the Ministries of Territorial Administration and Planning, the Prime Minister’s office, the National Assembly, the United Nations System and civil society organisations (CSOs).
After presenting the report on progress made in the various projects, the participants discussed the major challenges to overcome and established three levels of coordination (at the National Assembly, the High Commission for Decentralisation and one CSO to ensure coherent and harmonised management of the activities.
PCGD is working to build technical and infrastructural capacity in governmental institutions and CSOs. This support includes the construction and rehabilitation of the buildings which house them, provision of equipment and training and course-participation opportunities for their staff.
For more information: Bowoi Barry, PCGD | (236) 75 70 19 21| bowoi.barry@undp.org
Support for people living with HIV/AIDS
The National Committee for the Fight against HIV/AIDS (CNLS) has provided four ministries with a donation of four 4×4 vehicles and IT equipment, namely the Ministries of Health, National Education, Social Affairs and Justice.
At the presentation ceremony were the CNLS Coordinator, Ms Hyacinthe Wodobodé, and the four ministers and their representatives.
The CNLS donation specifically aims to facilitate work supporting orphans and vulnerable children.
In her speech, the CNLS Coordinator stated that “It is in the public interest that efforts made so far will be further intensified”.
For more information: Boniface Nganza, CNLS | (236) 75 04 18 61| boniface.nganza@gmail.com
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Jul 31st, 2009 by Boris Ngouagouni, OCHA
(Bangui/New York, 30 July 2009): United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator and Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Catherine Bragg, ended a five-day mission to the Central African Republic (CAR) with a call for improved protection of civilians in the country.
“Despite a general improvement of the situation in some areas, the situation is still very volatile and the displaced population remains traumatised,” said Ms. Bragg. “Fear is very evident amongst the people who had to repeatedly leave their villages and watch their homes and livelihoods being looted, burnt and destroyed,” she added.
She said the absence of the police and the judiciary in some areas has led to human rights violations and a culture of impunity.
Although some displaced people started to return to their places of origin in 2008, hostilities this year caused further displacement and slowed the momentum of return, she noted, expressing hope that efforts by all parties to restore peace and security will help limit displacement and encourage voluntary return of civilians to their homes.
Humanitarian agencies estimate that one million civilians are affected by conflict in the Central
African Republic, including 125,000 who are internally displaced.
Ms. Bragg also deplored the funding shortfall that humanitarian agencies continue to face. Current funding requirements amount to $97 million. Some $48 million of the total required for the humanitarian response remains outstanding.
During her visit, Ms. Bragg met President Francois Bozize and Prime Minister Faustin Archange Touadera. She also visited internally displaced people in the towns of Birao, Kabo and Paoua and had meetings with humanitarian workers in those areas.
Ms. Bragg said humanitarian organisations in some of the areas she visited still had difficulties accessing certain vulnerable groups due to insecurity and the bad state of roads and bridges, particularly during the rainy season.
The Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator urged the national authorities to ensure that humanitarian agencies had unhindered access to all those in need.
Press release 1 - English (PDF) - 28 kb
Press release 2 - English (PDF) - 28 kb
Final Press release - English (PDF) - 24 kb
Jul 31st, 2009 by Boris Ngouagouni, OCHA
Attack by members of the LRA on Mboki, arrival of new refugees
On Friday 24 July, members of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) attacked Mboki village, 75km south-east of Obo in the far east of the Central African Republic.
At 10:00am, the group of armed men coming from the Mbomou river (the border with DRC) launched their attack on the market of Mboki, killing two traders and injuring six others. The traders, also armed, returned fire, killing three of the attackers and injuring others.
Supported by the local population, these Chadian traders followed the LRA rebels as they fled into the bush, and recovered the bodies of a further four who had succumbed to their injuries.
The 350 Congolese refugees who had fled the DRC and were already registered in Obo have now been joined by a further 248 new arrivals in Mboki, bringing the total number of refugees in the region to 598.
For more information: Alexis Mbolinani, JUPEDEC | (236) 70 40 70 42 mbolinani@yahoo.fr
Arrival of the DRC contingent of the MICOPAX peace-keeping force
22 July saw the departure of the contingent of the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) in the peace-keeping force Mission for the Consolidation of Peace in CAR (MICOPAX), operating under the authority of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS / CEEAC).
They have been replaced for the next six months by a contingent from the the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC), as well as a contingent of military police from Equatorial Guinea, replacing that of the departing Congolese.
The departure and arrival ceremonies took place at the MICOPAX base at Bangui M’Poko airport.
Contingency planning and rapid response in conflict and post-conflict situations
Saturday 25 July was the last day of a 5-day teacher training workshop on the culture of peace and the prevention of conflicts, which was organised by the Programme of Education for Emergencies, and Reconstruction (PEER) being implemented in CAR by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in partnership with the NGO Japanese Centre for Conflict Prevention (JCCP).
The workshop brought together 10 national NGOs, the Association of Women Jurists, the Central African Association for the Fight against Violence, the Islamic Foundation for Peace and Development in CAR, the Central African Youth Mission, Youth for the Protection of the Environment and Community Development, the Birao Community Radio, the Central African Human Rights Observatory, the CAR Women’s Political Participation in Peace-building Platform and the Project for the Reduction of Small Arms.
The workshop was held to build and reinforce the capacities of civil society organisations and communities to anticipate, plan for and react to conflict and post-conflict situations.
The aim of the project is to contribute to the creation and strengthening of a network of local NGOs skilled at helping to prevent, respond to and resolve conflicts.
The workshop concluded by establishing a coordination team and an action plan for the following nine months, including awareness-raising, advocacy and capacity-building of community leaders to manage and mitigate conflicts in constructive, non-violent and sustainable ways. This is proposed to take place in five prefectures across the north: Ouham-Pende, Ouham, Nana-Gribizi, Bamingui-Bangoran and the Vakaga.
For more information: Parfait Malewaka, RPPC | (236) 75 20 49 66 pargilbert_malewaka@yahoo.fr
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The Humanitarian and Development Partnership Team (HDPT) unites all organizations working to alleviate the humanitarian and development crisis in the Central African Republic: United Nations agencies, the Red Cross Movement, NGOs and other organizations. For more information, visit About HDPT CAR or email us at info[at]hdptcar.net
Interviews with Dr Ione
Dr Ione describes her incredible experiences in the Central African Republic. A thrilling eye-witness account of the country’s history.
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