The Central African Republic (CAR) is an extremely challenging place for people with special needs of any kind, particularly the Deaf. At one point, CAR was a pioneer among African countries in deaf education; Andrew Foster, a Deaf American missionary, opened the country’s first and only school for the deaf in CAR’s capital, Bangui, in 1977. Foster also trained the teachers and paid them a competitive salary, ensuring quality education for the deaf children who could attend the school. Continue Reading »
A member of a self-defense group carrying his traditional rifle in a flower field, near the village of Sambaye, 10 km west of Bozoum, in north-western Central African Republic.
Self-defense groups help to ward off the threat of bandits who loot, kidnap and sometimes kill, allowing more families to return to their houses and fields. The community of Sambaye pays $42 for the weapon and ammunition of each group member, who are recruited on a voluntary basis among village’s men and women. Several displaced families from Sambaye started to come back to three months ago, thanks to improved security offered by the group.
UNICEF advocates to communities to prevent the use of children in self-defense groups.
In the Central African Republic, UNICEF, with funding from the European Commission, is supporting bush schools to provide education and a sense of normalcy to displaced children.
The UNICEF representation in the Central African Republic has just published their monthly report for June 2008. It contains an excellent overview on the current humanitarian, political and security situation, as well as a description of UNICEF’s projects in CAR.
Here is the summary:
CAR is placed on the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission’s agenda
Peace agreement signed between the CAR government, APRD and UFDR
The UN Fund grants UNICEF US$5.8million to purchase 740,000 mosquito nets
UNICEF signs new agreements with COOPI, IMC, IPHD, IRC and Merlin
Mass vaccination campaign against Yellow Fever is held in northwestern CAR
International Day of the African Child is celebrated
The construction of 404 latrines is completed in northern CAR
In Birao, in northeastern CAR, women and children have been particularly affected by what they nervously call “the events”, the fights between the rebel forces of the Movement of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) and the government forces.
In a previous post, we published letters from women who were victims of violence and recalled their personal and family experience. This time, Children are talking about the attacks. Under the supervision of social workers, they told their stories and drew the scenes they witnessed.
13 year old boy
I ran from Birao to Roukoutou. We crossed a river and once there, there was nothing to eat. We suffered a lot. So we learned to fish and hunt. We stayed there for 45 days before we came back to Birao. Continue Reading »
Radhika Coomaraswamy, Secretary General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflicts concluded on Saturday a six-day mission to assess the conflict’s impact on children in CAR and Chad.
After a two day visit to Chad, Radhika Coomaraswamy came to CAR to meet young victims of abduction, and rebels suspected of recruiting child soldiers. She met with women communities, internally displaced people (IDPs), and victims of the conflict and of coupeurs de routes (Zaraguinas). Among the victimes, the SRSG met a young girl abducted by Coupeurs de Route two years ago in a neighbouring village. She was only liberated in March this year, when the Government forces attacked the bandits’ camp in Bilakaré, between Paoua, Bokaranga and Bozoum. By that time, her parents had fled violence, probably to Cameroun and she is now living with her displaced grandmother in Paoua.
However, despite the remaining insecurity, improvements have been achieved through the peace agreements signed between the Government and the Movement of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) last year and with the Popular Army for Unity and Democracy (APRD) last month. Continue Reading »
‘The people of the Central African Republic are living in Fear’
(UNICEF) – The threat of kidnappings, rape and killings are an everyday part of life for people living in the Central African Republic according to the UNICEF Goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow, who has just completed a week long visit to the country.
Along with the agency’s Regional Director, Dr Esther Guluma, Ms Farrow was able to speak to victims of highway bandits, military raids and forced displacement. Amongst those seen were women who had suffered multiple rapes and children who had been kidnapped for ransom and held for two years in the bush.
Both women visited the country last year and the latest mission was intended to follow up on what they describe as a ‘complex humanitarian emergency’. UNICEF has since launched multiple programmes in the north of the country where some three hundred thousand people have fled their homes because of insecurity. On one of the few major arterial roads in the region Mia Farrow and Dr Guluma were told that 1,100 women and girls as young as four have raped on the route in the past year. Most cases are never reported. Continue Reading »
(IRIN) - Women in Ndele, a remote town in northern Central African Republic, are making a stand for their rights. The local chapter of the national women’s organisation, OFCA, has launched a campaign to alert women to their rights on issues such as female genital mutilation/cutting, early marriages and polygamy.
More than 15 percent of women in conflict-ravaged northern CAR are estimated to have experienced some form of gender-based violence, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Ndele’s women used the occasion of the opening of an OCHA office in the town in late April to make their case to the Minister for Social Affairs and the Family, Solange Pagonendji N’dakala.
“We live in a traditional society which still looks down upon us. Our rights are ignored, we are victims of violence and our young girls are not spared either,” said Marguerite Zanaba, head of the local chapter of the organisation. Continue Reading »
In Birao, in northeastern CAR, women and children have been particularly affected by what they nervously call “the events”, the fights between the rebel forces of the Movement of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) and the government forces.
In their own words, the women of Birao talk about the attacks on their villages, their escape, their pain and their memories.
First woman
“During the battle, I was giving birth. I took my daughter on my back and walked until Am Dafock… I reached Am Dafock at night. In the morning I had given birth… a baby boy. My husband went the other way. Me, I took the children of my dead brother. Three boys. Their mother went back to her parent’s.” Continue Reading »
UNICEF in the Central African Republic has just published their 2008 fact sheet. The document is a short and informative overview on UNICEF’s objectives for 2008. It contains:
Late January, UNICEF CAR, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, UNFPA and WHO, officially launched their 2008 Mother and Child Survival Campaign.
The first stage has allowed the vaccination of approximately 700,000 women against Tetanus – CAR’s seventh most deadly disease. The neonatal form in particular leads to death in the vast majority of infants. Continue Reading »
UNICEF in the Central African Republic has just published their report for December 2007 and January 2008. As always, it contains an excellent overview on the current humanitarian, political and security situation, as well as information on UNICEF’s project activities in CAR.
EU Peacekeeping force officially launched; arrival of first troops in CAR and Chad delayed by fighting in N’Djamena
New Prime Minister, Faustin Touadéra replaces Eli Dote following his resignation;simmering discontent in the capital Bangui
UNICEF and the Ministry of Health launch nationwide Mother and Child Survival Campaign; 800,000 women vaccinated again Tetanus
The UNICEF CAP appeal for 2007 was 57 percent funded
For more information on UNICEF’s activities in the Central African Republic contact: Anne Boher
Communications Officer
UNICEF CAR
Email aboher[at]unicef.org | Mobile +236 75 58 96 01
Paoua, Central African Republic. Agnès Sadoua is just seven years old. Perched on the edge of a wooden bench, she swings her legs back and forth freely. Like many other children her age, she is missing her front teeth. She grins as she talks about her love for school, her friends and her family. It has not always been like this however. Three months ago, Agnès along with many other children and their families, were forced to flee their homes in search of safety in the bush. Continue Reading »
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.
The UNICEF representation in the Central African Republic has just published their monthly report for June 2008. It contains an excellent overview on the current humanitarian, political and security situation, as well as a description of UNICEF’s projects in CAR.
In Birao, in northeastern CAR, women and children have been particularly affected by what they nervously call “the events”, the fights between the rebel forces of the Movement of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) and the government forces.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, Secretary General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflicts concluded on Saturday a six-day mission to assess the conflict’s impact on children in CAR and Chad.
(IRIN) - Women in Ndele, a remote town in northern Central African Republic, are making a stand for their rights. The local chapter of the national women’s organisation, OFCA, has launched a campaign to alert women to their rights on issues such as female genital mutilation/cutting, early marriages and polygamy.
In Birao, in northeastern CAR, women and children have been particularly affected by what they nervously call “the events”, the fights between the rebel forces of the Movement of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) and the government forces.
UNICEF in the Central African Republic has just published their monthly report for March 2008. The report includes:
UNICEF in the Central African Republic has just published their report for December 2007 and January 2008. As always, it contains an excellent overview on the current humanitarian, political and security situation, as well as information on UNICEF’s project activities in CAR.
Paoua, Central African Republic. Agnès Sadoua is just seven years old. Perched on the edge of a wooden bench, she swings her legs back and forth freely. Like many other children her age, she is missing her front teeth. She grins as she talks about her love for school, her friends and her family. It has not always been like this however. Three months ago, Agnès along with many other children and their families, were forced to flee their homes in search of safety in the bush. 
