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• Signature de protocole d’accord dans le cadre de Projet de Coopération Technique : TCP/CAF/3301 « Appui à la production et diffusion du riz NERICA à travers une approche participative »
• Formation sur le « Digital Pen Technology » (DPT) – Projet Manioc/OSRO/912 E
• Niveau d’avancement des travaux de formulation du nouveau programme cadre de coopération FAO-RCA CPF 2012-2016
• L’élan pour les nouveaux Défis au sein du bureau FAO en Centrafrique

Read more by downloading the Le mensuel de la FAO , Septembre 2011 (1.6 Mo) >>

For further details please contact fao.cf@fao.org

Read more by downloading the Bulletin : Trait d’union N°1 (PDF – 880 KB) (French version only) >>

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• Atelier de lancement des travaux de formulation du nouveau cycle de coopération pour l’horizon 2012-2016 par La FAO et le Gouvernement centrafricain
• FAO/PROJET-OSRO/RAF/010/SWE – Sécurité alimentaire/VIH SIDA – Violence sur le gennre – Formation des facilitateurs pour l’encadrement des champs écoles paysans à Mbaïki
• La FAO réduit la crise du manioc à Bossembélé et Yaloké
• Atelier de renforcement des capacités du Groupe thématique et de l’Equipe Conjointe du Système des Nations Unies sur le SIDA

Read more by downloading the Le mensuel de la FAO , Août 2011 (991 Ko) >>

For further details please contact fao.cf@fao.org

Central African Republic: Consolidated Appeal 2011 Mid-Year Review

In the midst of a still-fragile regional context, the Central African Republic (CAR) has achieved a significant step towards peace consolidation, with the peaceful holding of national elections in early 2011. In spite of the many claims put forward by the opposition regarding the legitimacy of the parliamentary election results, incumbent President Bozize was re-elected for a second term without major incidents. However, this important achievement has not yet brought the anticipated improvements for the vast majority of the CAR population.

In the north-west where the majority of the internally displaced people are located, little progress has been made towards building an environment conducive to durable returns. Similarly, CAR refugees in both Cameroon and Chad await further guarantees before returning to their home country. Whilst a comprehensive reintegration strategy has been agreed by the Government and its partners, no concrete steps have yet been taken in the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) process, in spite of the strong will of the Government to do so.

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Mission conjointe d’evaluation rapide de la situation des refugies, personnes deplacees internes et autres personnes vulnerables dans le sud-est de la RCA

Le plan de contingence de la République Centrafricaine (RCA) pour l’année 2011 a retenu parmi les scenarii, l’afflux d’environ 21000 refugiés du sud Soudan comme conséquence des conflits à l’issue du référendum de janvier 2011. Il prévoit également que de nombreux refugiés seraient reçus dans la zone sud-est de la RCA notamment dans la préfecture du Haut-Mbomou entre la frontière du Soudan et la ville de Mboki en passant par les villes de Bambouti et Obo, portes d’entrée en RCA et villes à proximité immédiate de la frontière.

La situation sécuritaire et humanitaire dans cette zone est précaire et pourrait s’empirer dans le temps du fait de la présence de l’Armée de Resistance du Seigneur (LRA), originaire de l’Ouganda et qui sévit dans la même zone identifiée dans le plan de contingence pour recevoir un éventuel afflux des réfugiés soudanais. La LRA utilise l’extrémité sud-est de la RCA comme un corridor pour se déplacer vers le sud Soudan où se trouverait sa base arrière. Lors des accrochages entre les Forces armées centrafricaines (FACA) et la LRA, cette dernière a conduit des représailles contre les populations civiles et les ONG internationales operant dans la zone. Ainsi, pour des raisons de securité, la présence d’acteurs humanitaires y est très limitée.

La présente mission d’évaluation rapide des besoins qui s’inscrit dans le cadre de l’Immediate Response Emergency Opération (IR EMOP preparadness) devrait permettre au bureau pays du Programme Alimentaire Mondial (PAM), ainsi qu’aux autres acteurs humanitaires de mieux comprendre la situation dans le sud-est de la RCA à travers l’évaluation de la situation humanitaire des populations en mouvements, les capacités logistiques et la capacité des partenaires à intervenir dans l’éventualité d’un accroissement des opérations du PAM dans la region.

Par ailleurs, dans le cadre des termes de réference de la mission, il est aussi prévu de procéder à l’évaluation globale de la sécurité alimentaire dans la zone, notamment la situation des refugiés, des personnes déplacées internes et celle des populations hôtes dans les villes de Obo, Mboki, Zemio (préfecture Haut Mbomou), Rafaï et Bangassou (préfecture Mbomou).

Il faut noter que la plus récente évaluation conjointe dans le sud-est à l’initiative du Bureau OCHA date de Mai 2010, à la suite des déplacements massifs internes des populations dans cette zone sous les coups de la LRA. La présente mission, en plus de mettre l’accent sur les dispositions à prendre en cas d’afflux éventuel de réfugiés soudanais, devra en même temps réévaluer la situation des réfugiés et des Personnes Déplacées Internes (PDI) déjà présents dans la region pour avoir une analyse complète de la situation dans la zone. La détérioration de la sécurité dans cette zone a eu pour consequence la reduction de la présence des acteurs humanitaires. De ce fait, les informations sont peu disponibles.

C’est dans le souci de mieux connaitre le terrain et pour parer aux éventualités que la présente mission, initiée par le PAM avec la participation des agences du SNU, ONGs et partenaires locaux, s’est déroulée dans la zone sud-est dans la période du 2 au 31 mars 2011.

Read more by downloading the evaluation report (3121 KB) (Version french only)

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.
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Grave violations against children are being perpetrated by all parties to the various conflicts in the Central African Republic (CAR), including rape and armed recruitment into the fighting forces, according to a United Nations report released today.

Non-State armed groups and bandits are also kidnapping children as a means of recruitment and to threaten and extort ransom from the population, while abuses against youngsters generally are committed in a climate of impunity, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon writes in his latest report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict in CAR.

“I call on all parties to the conflict to immediately and without precondition cease the recruitment and use of children and to identify and release to the United Nations those children already in their ranks,” he says.

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(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 »

On March 8th, in celebration of International Women’s Day, over 1,500 women gathered in the streets of Paoua. The city situated in the tormented north-western quarter of the Central African Republic had been shaken by fights between rebel and government forces and by population movements. But on this particular day of celebration, internally displaced women, along with women coming from many surrounding villages, paraded along the crowded city streets, carrying the slogan: “invest in girls and women”.

After the parade, Marie Noudjougoto from one of Paoua’s Farmers Organizations spoke in the name of all present women, when she said: “Show your faith in women by bringing us peace and security on the way to the market, to school, to the fields, to water sources, to health centres and to hospitals. Continue Reading »

Several thousands of women and young girls have endured rape and other sexual violence in the conflict-torn north of the Central African Republic (CAR). Research suggests that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) strikes well over 15 percent of women and girls in the region.

Rape cases are being reported in northern CAR on a weekly basis. The most recent reports mention two twelve-year old girls, who were raped while searching for firewood in the bush near their shelter. A local newspaper also described the ordeal of a thirteen-year old girl assaulted earlier this month on her way to sell palm oil at a market. Health workers in the western province of Nana-Mambéré have expressed shock at the increasing number of rapes of women and girls. Continue Reading »

HDPT’s Info Bulletin no 39 (November 19 – November 26) is out – with detailed information on current humanitarian and development activities in the Central African Republic. It contains a current overview on the most important developments and news from within and about CAR. Continue Reading »

Gender inequalities in the Central African Republic persist. They are so deeply ingrained that significant positive change will probably take decades. Some facts from a government briefing paper on gender issues in CAR below. (It is well worth looking at other sources as well.):

• The share of illiterate women (68 percent) is substantially higher than that of men (46 percent)
• Net school enrolment is about 37 percent for girls against 44 percent for boys, these are some of the lowest rates in Africa
• More than 14 percent of women in urban areas have been subjected to sexual violence
• Women in urban areas are more than twice as likely to suffer from HIV/AIDS than men (infection rate 11 percent against 5 percent)
• CAR’s maternal mortality rate is among the world’s highest (1,355 per 100,000)
• Only 11 out of 105 members of parliament are women
• Only 10 percent of all judges are women
• Women remain argely uninvolved in the management and control of financial resources

Humanitarian and Development Partnership Team member UNFPA was recently reinforced by a Gender Advisor, supported by the GenCap initiative, to ensure a gender sensitive and equal approach in all humanitarian operations in the Central African Republic.

For photos of vulnerable women in CAR and to read the brief on gender, go to the next page. Continue Reading »