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. Continue Reading »
The NGO Coopi was attacked by LRA gunmen in Obo prefecture (south-eastern CAR)
FPR forces withdraw from Nana-Gribizi prefecture, destination unknown
New documentary film about orphans funded by French Development Agency (AFD), highlighting difficult conditions and numerous challenges
Workshop on the humanitarian strategy in 2010 to formulate the Coordinated Appeals Process (CAP) for humanitarian projects in 2010, including around 70 participants
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 »
(KJ*) Over the last two years, humanitarian assistance has made a decisive contribution to the stabilization the Central African Republic while the country’s condition was at its most critical. Back from the brink of collapse, the benefits of peace and stability now would have to be spread much wider throughout this desperately poor country, if the patient were to recover successfully. However, while humanitarian assistance is levelling off and may well decrease in 2009, development support is still lacking too far behind to pick up the thread. The looming recovery gap now jeopardizes CAR’s fragile progress, as data from the country’s new aid management system shows.
In November 2008, the Central African Republic (CAR) and its partners launched a new aid management system (DAD). Widely used in Asia but still rare in Africa, the goal of this online database is to make humanitarian and development aid more transparent, coordinated and effective. Previously, no central data source existed to help decision-makers understand who finances projects, who works in which sectors, in which locations, and where the gaps are. As in many other African states critically dependent on foreign support, the absence of reliable data was a stumbling block to improved aid effectiveness. Less than four months after the system’s launch, detailed financial, sector and geographical data for almost 300 projects is now available online. While the usual caveats on aid statistics apply (the data will not account for 100 percent of all transfers), the numbers are nevertheless already a reasonably good reflection of the realities in CAR.
Good numbers on the surface
At first sight, the recent data on aid to the Central African Republic looks encouraging. Between 2005 and 2007, total foreign assistance to CAR more than doubled from about $117m to $242m. The increase is particularly significant, given that CAR had long been a forgotten crisis. While aid to Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole went up by more than 90 percent between 1985 and 2006, it fell by almost 50 percent for CAR. During this time, the country’s development catastrophe slowly turned into a humanitarian emergency, directly affecting more than a million people and forcing up to 300,000 into displacement. CAR now ranks 178 out of 179 on the UN’s Human Development Index. More than two thirds of the population live in poverty. Reaching the Millennium Development Goals has become a distant dream. Continue Reading »
The UNICEF office in the Central African Republic has just published their monthly report for January 2009. It contains a detailed 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 January:
On 20 January the President of CAR appointed a new government following conclusions of the inclusive political dialogue in 2008.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) opened a hearing to decide whether former Congolese Vice President, Jean-Pierre Bemba, should be tried for war crimes committed in CAR during 2002 and 2003.
FACA and newly formed rebel group clashed in the prefecture of Bamingui Bangoran. Populations have fled to the bush and to neighboring Chad.
Clashes between APRD and auto-defense groups led to some 1,000 people seeking refugee in Bocaranga.
The UN Mission in Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) is scheduled to take over from European forces (EUFOR) currently operating in the two countries. Some 5,200 UN troops are expected to reinforce MINURCAT.
The 2009 Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) for CAR was launched on 28 January. About $116 million is being sought for 105 projects in CAR.
CAR takes the lead in a global campaign to highlight the issue of internal displacement.
Two cases of yellow fever were registered in CAR during the month of January. An immunization campaign is planned.
UNDP released a comprehensive fact sheet on the Central African Republic, taken from its National Human Development Report 2007/08 (to be published soon). It provides an excellent overview of recent data on Central African development, poverty, education and health. The fact sheet is available in English and French.
Click here to download the fact sheet (PDF, 744 KB)
The public online database will allow anyone to easily find detailed information on humanitarian and development assistance in the Central African Republic (CAR). Flexible lists, graphs and interactive maps will help donors, aid agencies and the government understand better who contributes, and who does what where.
Unlike in most other countries, data on external assistance will not become fragmented, but will be organized centrally following OECD standards. The launch of DAD represents an important milestone for the HDPT’s information management team, building on its success with innovative and user-friendly advocacy, mapping, and knowledge-sharing tools. By late November, donors had already entered data on more than 170 activities (or roughly two thirds of the total), documenting expenditures of more than $145 million in 2008.
Widely used in Asia but still rare in Africa, aid management systems have become a key element in improving aid effectiveness. Seeing CAR’s post-conflict situation Continue Reading »
Once there was a fairy-tale image of the brave and noble humanitarian, who would storm into conflict zones – armed only with vaccines and sacks of food – and indiscriminately save lives, having no other impact that a strictly humanitarian one. In the mid-1990s, that image was shattered. Strikingly common-sensical, Mary Anderson laid out the idea of Do No Harm, based on the realisation that humanitarian assistance takes place within a political context, and that so-called humanitarians, in their eagerness to do good, risked exacerbating tensions and deepening conflicts. Of course, this insight was not new. As long as there have been conflicts, people in violence-ridden countries have seen foreigners appear and influence the course of events. Having them arrive in white Landcruisers with colourful flags hardly changed the essential point that, in a conflict zone, everything is political.
Pierre Holtz for UNICEF / HDPT CAR
Acknowledging that emergency aid can have unintended and potentially disastrous consequences should not, and has not, led humanitarian organisations to pack up their vaccination kits and go home. On the contrary: while the idea of Do No Harm is as relevant today as ever, there is no reason why it could not have a positive twin. This twin idea – ‘Do More Good’ – suggests that impartial and effective humanitarian action can have a positive impact beyond its primary aim of saving lives and relieving suffering, i.e. to create some breathing-space for conflict-torn communities and lay the foundations for stability and development. Just such a window of opportunity may exist today in the Central African Republic. Although this window may close fast, it does appear that positive change could be possible. Aid organisations are playing a central role in helping to bring it about. Continue Reading »
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 »
World Bank provides US$ 7 million for Food Response Project
UN Humanitarian Air Service in jeopardy
Background and security
Clashes in the north west of CAR
After suspending their participation in the Inclusive Political Dialogue, several clashes between the Popular army for the restoration of democracy (APRD) and government forces have been reported in the north west of the country. Fighting reportedly took place on 8 August near Ngaoundaye, on 12 August near Man, and on 13 and 14 August between Ouandago and Kabo, though the identity of the rebels in this last skirmish was not confirmed. Continue Reading »
The Needs Analysis Framework analyzes the humanitarian needs in the Central African Republic, mainly of civilians living in the northern areas affected by conflict and violence. As a consequence of poverty and under-development, and aggravated by the violent conflict and banditry, urgent needs exist in all sectors. First and foremost, the humanitarian crisis in CAR is a protection and human rights crisis, with 305,000 people being forced to flee their homes. But many people also have no access to hospitals, health centres, schools, and markets, they have no drinking water and cannot work their fields, and many have no roof to protect them from the rains. Continue Reading »
An updated presentation of the general humanitarian and development situation in CAR is now available. UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Toby Lanzer presented this briefing to donors and other partners in Europe earlier this month, including at an OECD/DAC seminar, during EC consultations in Brussels and with Dutch officials in the Hague. The updated version integrates new developments in security sector reform and political dialogue, as well as other key points.
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.
Four key indicators illustrating the extent of the Central African Republic’s development catastrophe:
The UNICEF office in the Central African Republic has just published their monthly report for January 2009. It contains a detailed overview on the current humanitarian, political and security situation, and provides an update on UNICEF’s ongoing activities in CAR.
