The UNICEF office in the Central African Republic has just published their monthly report for August 2009. It contains an 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 August 2009:

• Preliminary assessments conducted in Mambéré Kadei, Sangha Mbaéré and Lobaye by MSF Spain/Belgium, MSF France and ACF revealed that 16% of children aged under 5 are acutely malnourished and 6.6% are severely acutely malnourished. UNICEF is appealing to donors for $1.5 million for lifesaving therapeutic foods, drugs and other supplies; to conduct a national nutritional survey; and train community health workers in early detection of children and women whose nutritional status is compromised.
• 6 schools rehabilitated by ACTED were inaugurated in the presence of the Minister of Education in 3 prefectures of the country: Ouham, Nana Gribizi and Bamingui Bangoran. These schools will allow 1,350 children to learn in better conditions in the upcoming new school year 2009-2010.
• Mid-Year Annual Work Plan (AWP) reviews were organised by the programme sections and sub-offices to compare the activities so far implemented to those initially planned. The AWP was revised to better reflect reality for the rest of the year.
• UNICEF provided financial support to organise training to strengthen the capacity of the school directors, teachers and parents. 130 school directors from Ouham Pendé and 59 from Bamingui Bangoran received training in school management and legislation; 274 parent-teachers from Ouham, 104 from Haute-Kotto, 90 from Bamingui Bangoran and 130 from Kémo were trained on their teaching skills; and 220 members of the PTA of Bossangoa and Bouca were trained on the role of the PTA.
• 101 children (94 boys, 17 girls) associated with armed groups who were released in July were reunified with their families and relatives. To date, UNICEF partners DRC and IRC have supported the reunification and community reintegration of a total number of 361 children (310 boys, 51 girls) formerly associated with the APRD since the child DDR programme began in May 2009.
• The preparatory work for the water and sanitation sector Round Table continued, with the opening of the website at http://tableronde-eau.minplan-rca.org/home and relevant documents uploaded on the site. The round table will be held in Bangui on 8 October 2009.

Click here to download the report

For more information on UNICEF’s activities in the Central African Republic contact:
Hyewon Lee | Reports Officer | UNICEF CAR
Email: hlee@unicef.org | Tel. +236 75 70 63 90

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 .
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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
• Current UNICEF appeal funded at just 29%

Click here to download the report (PDF - 1.2MB)

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Insecurity continues to ravage the northern areas of the Central African Republic where fighting and village attacks by bandits, rebels and military are still ongoing and has led to the internal displacement of about 220,000 people. About 73,000 people have sought refuge in Chad and Cameroon. There are also more than 2,600 refugees from neighboring western Sudan (Darfur) in the country.

In order to assess the number of people in need of alimentary support and to locate them, the World Food Programme has carried out an evaluation mission. Continue Reading »

By Emily Bamford, Bossangoa. Neige giggles shyly and hides behind her grandmother’s shawl. Just three years old, she lives with 11 other family members in a tiny home on the banks of the Ouham River in northern Central African Republic (CAR). Neige may look like any other little girl, but she is very lucky to be alive. A few months ago she almost died from malnutrition. Continue Reading »