News bulletin 95 (2 Feb- 9 Feb 2009)
Feb 9th, 2009 by Gisele Willybiro, OCHA
Highlights
- Closing session of the first meeting of Pilot Committee on the process of Disarmament, Demobilisation and Re-integration (DDR)
- Return to Car for the United Nations’ Special Representative for the Rights of Internally Displaced People Walter Kälin
- Population displacement on Ndele-Ngarba road and in Chad
Background and security
Census of former combatants
The first meeting of the DDR pilot committee started on the 3rd of February and closed its sitting on 5th Feb. The first phase of the programme consists of identifying and assessing former combatants from various rebel movements. Mediation provided by Gabon allowed a consensus to be built between the parties to set up a committee under the presidency of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General in the Central African Republic, represented by Steven Ursino, interim head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The vice presidencies will be held by a representative from the armed groups – Jean Jacques Démafouth from the Armée Populaire pour la Restauration de la Démocratie (APRD) and by Miinister of State Cyriaque Gonda.
‘This process will target politico-military groups, together we will proceed to the implementation of all stages necessary to make this DDR programme a complete success,’ said UNDP interim head Steven Ursino at the close of the sitting.
‘We are in the process of writing the history of our country’ said Minister of State Cyriaque Gonda. ‘Things are advancing towards peace in our country, our people are turning their concerns to development.’
The World Bank, the European Commission, France, MICOPAX, UNDP, the Office for the United Nations in the Central African Republic (BONUCA), the government and representatives of armed groups all participated at the meeting which was tasked with establishing the eligibility criteria and status for combatants, lists of combatants and their weapons, the location of the combatants and their assembly sites, security for these sites of assembly, disarmament checks and controls as well as the adoption of a phased programme.
Development partners round table
Minister for Commerce and Industry Emilie Béatrice Epaye has issued details of a round table for the commerce sector, the private sector, regional integration and employment – the announcement was made at a press conference on the 7th of February.
The organisation of this commerce sector round table falls under the Strategy Document for Poverty Reduction (SDPR) which was approved by donors at the Brussels round table in October 2007.
These round tables by sector aim to identify development projects which can be supported by development partners in the context of the fight against poverty and the target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Current events
Walter Kälin back in CAR
Walter Kälin, United Nations’ Special Representative for the Rights of Internally Displaced People will be in Bangui from the 10th til the 12th of February 2009.
This is a follow-up mission to Mr. Kälin’s trip between 24th of February and the 3rd of March of 2007 which gave him the chance to see first-hand the challenges which CAR faces as regards internal displacement.
During his stay, Walter Kälin is meeting with national authorities, as well as representatives from the United Nations and civil society to check up on progress on recommendations from his first mission.
Mr. Kälin is an academic who has held the post of United Nations’ Special Representative for the Rights of Internally Displaced People since 2004.
Latest wave of CAR refugees
A joint United Nations mission on the 28th of January assessed Daha village in southern Chad and estimated that 4,500 refugees had fled clashes in northern CAR, most had arrived between 16th and 17th January.
On the 4th of February, local authorities had put the number of CAR refugees at 10,000; this higher figure could not be confirmed and led to investigations by both the United Nations and its partners. A second evaluation mission was dispatched and revised the estimated down to 2,500.
Other humanitarian teams visited CAR villages such as Djamissinda, Akoursoulbak and Doum in order to talk to the local population. They were told by villagers in Djamissinda, for example, that people living along these main roads had moved into the bush near Manovo and not to Chad.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Chad reports that lorries carrying food, plastic tarpaulins and emergency equipment were dispatched from Abéché on the 6th of February.
According to the UNHCR, one hundred central Africans have been arriving in Chad every month since the end of 2008.
Health
Yellow fever in CAR
There have been several diagnoses of yellow fever in CAR – one case of a 48 year old man in Alindao (south central CAR), and another case of a 25 year old woman in Ngaragba in the 7th arrondissement of Bangui. The two cases were found when samples were taken on the 16th, 21st and the 28th of January 2009, and were subsequently found to be positive following diagnosis at Bangui’s Pasteur Institute.
The entomological investigation into the Ngaragba case is underway and supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO); an investigation into the Alindao case will follow.
Meningitis in Mbrés
The month of January saw a rise in meningitis cases at Mbrès health centre in north central CAR (supported by the NGO Aide Médicale Internationale (AMI). A WHO mission sent to investigate the cases concluded that the number of cases in the Nana Gribizi préfecture and in the Mbrès village in particular has risen above the level of epidemic since the 21st of January, with a high level of mortality (44%).
The mission also transported donations of medication and carried out a training course – Integrated Surveillance of Disease and Follow-up – as well as a health awareness course with community leaders.
Contact dembag@cf.afro.who.int or conjugop@cf.afro.who.int for more information.
NGO Santé Sud helping vulnerable children
The French NGO Santé Sud embarked on a project to improve living conditions, social integration and moral and psychological well-being for vulnerable children at the beginning of February. The project is being carried out in conjunction with the Ministry for Social Affairs and National Solidarity with finance from the French Development Agency of € 500,000 over a period of 2 years.
Santé Sud aims to improve the lives of orphans and HIV + children with psychological support provided by Central African staff trained by the programme.
In Bangui, the NGO is working alongside the foundation ‘Voix du Cœur’ and Caritas Bangui in the 3rd and 8th arrondissements, aiming to develop shared solutions and tools to improve local associations’ involvement with orphans and HIV+ children.
The identification of children is carried out on the basis of individual interviews in order to know more about the children themselves as well as their families.
There are 1,000 orphans and HIV+ children in arrondissement 3 and 8 – they are in urgent need of a multi-disciplinary help and psychological monitoring.
Santé Sud is also an advocacy organisation working in the interest of orphans and HIV+ children with various partners including the United Nations Fund for Chidlren (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP), Global Fund and the National Committee to Combat AIDS.
Contact rca@santesud.org for more information
Contact Us:
Gisèle Willybiro | willybiro@un.org | +236 75 54 90 31
