(UN/IRIN) The Central African Republic (CAR) has been in the throes of a humanitarian crisis for more than a decade. Army mutinies, coups and attempted coups, rebellions, gangs that kidnap for ransom and, more recently, elements of Uganda’s notorious Lord’s Resistance Army have made life for civilians, especially in the north, extremely challenging, unpredictable, and very dangerous.
The campaign is publishing a series of first-person accounts of people who have been forced to flee their homes in the Central African Republic.
Caroline Ngoena.
Caroline Ngoena is thirty nine years old, she lives in the town of Paoua in north western CAR. Pig breeding is how she earns a living for her family of 7 children, she’s also the chairwoman of Yekwa Group in the town. Caroline’s life was turned upside down in March 2006 when violence came to the town.
“We realized that death was at hand. Everyone had to fend for themselves in order to escape death. We didn’t have time to think about the animals because they were sleeping outside. We fled into the bush, 32 kilometres away. We spent three months living in the bush like this.”
The campaign is publishing a series of first-person accounts of people who have been forced to flee their homes in the Central African Republic.
Augustine with her young son.
Augustine has five children and is six months pregnant. She lives in the bush not far from her home in a small village in north western CAR. Augustine miscarried her last pregnancy and is re-building her home in the village, preparing to move back in order to be nearer to hospital facilities when she has to give birth. It’s been six years since she and her family fled their house.
“If the Chadians came and shot at you, would you stay here? I think you would choose to run away from your home and save your life. We are re-building our house, we will come back to the village, life is better in the village – we can get a taxi motorbike to the town and get treatment. But the minute there is gunfire, we will go back to the bush.”
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.
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.
When families are forced to flee their villages because of violence, they often have to leave behind some of their most valuable assets: seeds and tools for farming. This leads to an even bigger loss: their harvest.
Because of ongoing violence, food security is a major issue in the Central African Republic. Although some early projects are making a difference, more needs to be done; local food prices are increasing rapidly for food produced both inside and out of CAR . Continue Reading »
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.
About 1,400 displaced people are living in the village of Kamba Kota (Ouham) in terrible health and security conditions. They fled their villages following attacks by armed bandits, who reportedly killed 37 people. The banditry victims come from Kambandja, Kassai and Kagoué II villages on the road to Ouogo to the north of Kamba Kota.
The joint mission of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the United Nations Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA) who located these displaced people expressed concern about their health and security.
At the moment, these displaced people get water from the river and eat mainly cassava leaves. Their huts are made of branches and foliage. Access to health care is made difficult by the system of cost recovery applied by the local health center (patients must pay a fee). In spite of these challenges, the displaced are planning for the future: with the help of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), they started building a school which will soon be operational. Continue Reading »
An upsurge in attacks by armed bandits in the north of the Central African Republic since early 2008 has made banditry the major cause of new displacement in the country. Up to a third of an estimated 300,000 people who have been forced out of their homes have fled from bandit attacks.
Groups of between 10 and 30 armed men roam the northern areas of the country, assaulting and killing travellers and villagers, kidnapping children and adults, looting property, and burning homes and entire villages. In a disturbing new trend in recent months, bandits burn down whole villages, often in revenge for resistance by village self-defence groups. Continue Reading »
Like about 197,000 other Central Africans, the inhabitants of Combattant 1 in Paoua are internally displaced people. To escape violence in 2003, they left the city for the bush. For five years now, they have been living in Ota and Dinga, about 10 kilometres from Paoua.
They stay in small houses by their fields and no longer go to the market to sell their products. “We only go back to Paoua once or twice a week, mostly to go to church,” explains the oldest member of the group (see picture). We would like to come back permanently, but what will we do if the attacks start again? We can’t run away with our children.”
Despite the recent peace deal between the APRD rebel forces and the FACA government forces, the situation in northwestern CAR remains fragile, and the population won’t feel safe until a permanent political solution has been reached. For now, rebel soldiers still need to be demobilized, and national authorities still have to reinstate the rule of law. Zaraguinas (road bandits) are likewise very active in the northwest, attacking villagers and merchants on their way to their fields or to the market. Altogether, unsettled disagreements between rebels and government, and the acts of banditry perpetuated by Zaraguinas, are paralysing the recovery process in the region. Continue Reading »
By Gina Bramucci, IRC: After nearly two years of displacement, conflict-affected communities in Central African Republic are rebuilding and returning to their villages of origin. An International Rescue Committee (IRC) team in the northern region of Nana Gribizi has been implementing emergency response, environmental health, health, protection, Gender Based Violence (GBV) and education programming since February 2007.
As Internal Displaced People (IDP) started moving back toward their villages in early 2008, IRC’s protection team worked with returnees to identify extremely individuals in need of support. Communities came together to help elderly people isolated from their families, children without guardians, people living with illness or disability, and women raising their families alone. Continue Reading »
(Anthony Morland, IRIN)
KAGA-BANDORO - After hiding in the bush for more than a year, families in the northern Central African Republic (CAR) regions of Ouaham and Nana Grebizi are starting to return to their roadside villages.
Clashes between government forces and the Armée Populaire pour la Restauration de la Démocratie (APRD, People’s Army for the Restoration of Democracy) rebel movement towards the end of 2006 led to the exodus of tens of thousands of people from dozens of villages along the road linking the towns of Kabo and Kaga Bandoro, about 100km to the southeast.
Such sudden large-scale population movements took place across huge swathes of the north, with almost 200,000 civilians fleeing their homes. Continue Reading »
(Anthony Morland, IRIN) - “Can you help me find my husband?” asked an elderly resident of this dusty, traumatised town in the northwest of the Central African Republic (CAR).
The old woman explained she had last seen him three months previously when he and his brother were kidnapped by bandits known as Zaraguina just outside Paoua.
Asked to pay a ransom to secure her husband’s release, the woman managed to raise three million CFA francs (about US$6,600) - a fantastic sum in a country where two-thirds of the population survive on less than a dollar a day - by selling the family’s livestock.
But those she paid either betrayed her or had no connection with the kidnappers; now destitute, she is still waiting to be reunited with her husband. Continue Reading »
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). 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 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.
When families are forced to flee their villages because of violence, they often have to leave behind some of their most valuable assets: seeds and tools for farming. This leads to an even bigger loss: their harvest. 
About 1,400 displaced people are living in the village of Kamba Kota (Ouham) in terrible health and security conditions. They fled their villages following attacks by armed bandits, who reportedly killed 37 people. The banditry victims come from Kambandja, Kassai and Kagoué II villages on the road to Ouogo to the north of Kamba Kota.
Like about 197,000 other Central Africans, the inhabitants of Combattant 1 in Paoua are internally displaced people. To escape violence in 2003, they left the city for the bush. For five years now, they have been living in Ota and Dinga, about 10 kilometres from Paoua. 
By Gina Bramucci, IRC: After nearly two years of displacement, conflict-affected communities in Central African Republic are rebuilding and returning to their villages of origin. An 
(Anthony Morland, IRIN)
