More than 2,700 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are currently living on a site near Kabo, Central African Republic, and new people are arriving every day. Returning from the site, a joint evaluation mission, including staff from OCHA and BONUCA, as well as donor representatives, described the humanitarian situation as very precarious.

Meeting with the mayor of Kabo, members of the mission were told that NGOs had been successful in addressing the most urgent problems. For example, the NGO Solidarités installed a water pump providing clean drinking water on the IDP site and the local health centre receives help from Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The centre’s current capacity is only 56 beds, which will have to be expanded quickly as the site’s population continues to grow. Food security remains an important concern, as most people had to leave their fields and crops behind to escape from violence. And the next priority should be providing emergency education, as there is currently only one school for about 3,000 pupils staying in the town and on the IDP site. Despite recent humanitarian efforts, the needs in Kabo are still great, and the means to achieve them are scarce.

The mission also reported the presence of more than 400 additional people who had fleed Kabo in 2003 to seek refuge in Chad, and have now returned to CAR. However, confronted with the difficult living conditions in Kabo, these people have been forced to join the IDP site. Most houses in the town were severely damaged during the violent fights between the army and the rebel forces in 2006 and 2007. As a result, even the most basic social services have broken down, and it will now take years before the local economy is rebuilt and the people of Kabo can get their lives back.

Although the recent cease-fire between the Government and rebel forces has improved security in and around Kabo, unpredictable attacks of road bandits (Zaraguinas) are still preventing IDPs from returning to their villages. Itself scarred by months of violence, the population of Kabo is already working hard to support the IDPs and returning refugees, although greater humanitarian support remains essential.