Read the latest ECHO Crisis Report on the CAR covering the period between 1 January and 30 November 2011, with information on the overall situation, needs assessment, local and international humanitarian response, local and international protection response, coordination mechanisms and recommendations. Download the report here (910kb) >>

Read the report from the inter-organisation mission to Sikikédé, in the Vakaga province of north-eastern CAR, which took place on Friday 25 November 2011. This was the first joint mission since September 2010. Download the report here (125kb) >>

See photos from the mission on the photos page >>

For more details, please contact:

Lauren Paletta
Information Management Officer, OCHA CAR
paletta@un.org

Christian Mulamba
Head of Mission, IMC CAR
cmulamba@internationalmedicalcorps.org

OCHA with the support of the humanitarian and development community have recently written a report on their work updating the estimations of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees in the CAR. The report includes the displacement figures and map, the methodology used for data collection, the complexities of tracking displacement in the CAR, an overview of the context and causes of displacement by region and recommendations for the humanitarian community as they move forward in tracking displacement. Download the full report here (PDF, 781 KB) >>

Download the map on our Maps page, or directly here >>

For more information, please contact:

Lauren Paletta
Information Management Officer UN OCHA
Bangui, Central African Republic
paletta@un.org

Après une mission exploratoire conduite à la fin de l’année 2005 faisant suite à l’invitation du Ministère de la Santé, de la population et de lutte contre le SIDA (MSPPLS) et d’UNICEF, ACF a ouvert une mission en République Centrafricaine en juillet 2006.

Le 17 septembre 2007, une convention de collaboration est signée entre le gouvernement centrafricain et Action Contre la Faim. Ses premières activités concernent la mise en place d’un programme de relance de la production maraîchère pour les populations vulnérables de Bangui, programme appuyé par la DAH, et d’autre part une intervention en appui au Ministère de la Santé Publique, de la Population et de Lutte contre le SIDA (MSPPLS), en complément de l’UNICEF, sur la formation à la surveillance nutritionnelle, à la détection et à la prise en charge de la malnutrition aigue sévère et modérée et ceci sur la zone urbaine de Bangui mais également sur la préfecture de l’Ouham, à Bossangoa. Des évaluations en « Nutrition », en « Eau, hygiène et assainissement », et en « Sécurité Alimentaire » ont été menées en février 2007 sur l’Ouham et l’Ouham Pendé.

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Central African Republic: Humanitarian presence in the field (October 2011)

This map shows humanitarian actor’s sub-office and base locations in the field in the CAR. The map was produced by the OCHA office in Bangui with the generous support of the humanitarian community. Download the map in PDF (126KB) here: English version | Version française

Central African Republic: Areas of intervention per cluster (October 2011)

These maps show the areas of intervention of humanitarian projects in the CAR by cluster. The maps were produced by the cluster leads and co-leads with the generous support of the humanitarian community. Download the maps in PDF (655KB) here: English version | Version française

Find all map products for CAR from the HDPT community on the Maps pages of the HDPT CAR website http://hdptcar.net/blog/maps/. We hope that these products will be useful to your work.

L’évaluation réalisée répondait aux besoins exprimés à la fois par le Programme, le Reporting et la Coordination afin d’établir un bilan des activités menées et identifier une situation de base en début de période de soudure. Cette enquête s’inscrit aussi dans un processus d’apprentissage continu.
L’équipe AME (Appraisal, Monitoring and Evaluation) d’ACTED, coordonnée par la Manager Reporting & AME ACTED RCA, a mené une évaluation du 13 juin au 28 juin 2011 dans les sous-préfectures de Zémio et Mboki dans l’Ouest du Haut Mbomou et du 29 juin au 01 juillet 2011 dans la sous-préfecture de Djémah, visant à évaluer les niveaux de vulnérabilités sur la zone, les enjeux liés à l’accueil des déplacés et réfugiés sur la zone, les conséquences de la dégradation sécuritaire progressive sur les dynamiques de relèvement et les besoins persistants.

Read more by downloading the evaluation report (1,129KB) (french version only) >>
You may be also interested to read the Multi-Sector Rapid Evaluation in Djémah, and view the presentation given to the HDPT community.

For more information, please contact:

Julien Benoist
Country Director
ACTED CAR
julien.benoist@acted.org

Highlights

• La CNR forme la police sur la loi d’asile en RCA
• L’AFJC s’attaque aux violences liées aux accusations de sorcellerie
• L’UNHCR renforce les capacités des réfugiés du camp de Batalimo

Read more by downloading the bulletin (1.9 MB) >>

For further details please contact:

UNHCR office in CAR
Mr. Djerassem Mbaiorem
Email: mbaiorem@unhcr.org | Phone: +236 21 61 32 80

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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Highlights

• Cross-border meeting in Bangui between UNHCR Offices in Chad, Cameroon and CAR.
• Spontaneous return of CAR refugees from neighboring countries
• Final exams in secondary school for Congolese refugees in CAR
• Celebration of the World Refugee Day in Bangui and Field Offices

Read more by downloading the bulletin (1MB) >>

For further details please contact:

UNHCR office in CAR
Mr. Djerassem Mbaiorem
Email: mbaiorem@unhcr.org | Phone: +236 21 61 32 80

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)

Between November 3 and 25 2010, two COOPI teams conducted an evaluation of the humanitarian situation in two sub-prefectures of the Haut-Mbomou prefecture, Obo and Bambouti, with a focus on the Mboki, Obo and Bambouti axis. The final report includes information on the security situation, the humanitarian actors and locations of intervention, the results of the evaluation in the sectors of education, protection, food security and livelihoods, health and water and sanitation and the questionnaire used for the evaluation.

Download the evaluation report here (PDF | 2,287KB) >>

For further details please contact:

Sabine Jiekak
COOPI CAR
Email: jiekak@coopi.org

Highlights

• The second round of the parliamentarian election scheduled for 27 March 2010
• Opposition plan to boycott the second round of election
• Chadian troops left Birao on 14 February 2011

Working with partners

Implementing partners include the Government’s Commission Nationale pour les Réfugiés (CNR), CNPPDI and other relevant ministries, IRC, DRC, Triangle GH, IMC, Merlin, COOPI, CSSI and CARITAS. UNHCR chairs the Protection Cluster and works closely with the UN Country Team, national and international NGOs and donors, and participates in joint activities, like the provision of protection and assistance to IDPs in the North.

Achievements

• The Office has started interviewing refugee returnees in Ouham Pendé prefecture. As to date, 46 out of 93 refugee returnee families have been interviewed in Nana-Barya. Findings show that all returnees in Nana-Barya fled to Cameroon. Those who returned came back either due to a family death, for health reasons, or due to difficult living conditions in Cameroon. Generally, it appears that before fleeing to asylum, 82% of interviewees lived in brick houses, after displacement 82% live in straw houses. There is no access to potable water, only 50% of children are educated, 95% have access to healthcare, and 80% of returnees eat only 1 meal per day. Only 37% feel that they are secure in Nana-Barya, and 82% have no knowledge or access to the judicial system. 21% of the refugee families interviewed have a family member who is handicapped or blind, and 18% of interviewees were single women with children.
• UNHCR and the humanitarian community in Paoua have started discussion on the return of IDPs in their villages of origin. This comes after a meeting APRD, one rebel group acting in the north, had a meeting with 46 chiefs of villages to discuss the return of IDPs to their villages.
• 180 hectares of farm lands are being distributed to Sudanese refugees by local authorities in Bambari to help them start agricultural activities. They have already received agricultural materials and seeds from FAO.

Read more by downloading the full bulletin >>

For further details please contact:

UNHCR office in CAR
Mr. Djerassem Mbaiorem
Email: mbaiorem@unhcr.org | Phone: +236 21 61 32 80

Highlight

Announcement of final results of presidential election. The Constitutional Court validated the presidential election of last January and declared President Francois Bozize as the winner with 64,37%. In addition, the Court declared unfounded the queries from opposition candidates who called for the cancellation of these elections due to fraud, according to their own statement.

The two international staff from MSF who were kidnapped by rebels on January 30, 2011, have been released last week (February 20, 2011).

Working with partners

Implementing partners include the Government’s Commission Nationale pour les Réfugiés (CNR), CNPPDI and other relevant ministries, IRC, DRC, Triangle GH, IMC, Merlin, COOPI, CSSI and CARITAS. UNHCR chairs the Protection Cluster and works closely with the UN Country Team, national and international NGOs and donors, and participates in joint activities, like the provision of protection and assistance to IDPs in the North.

Achievements

• Protection meetings in Bangui last week reached following results: Gender Based Violence sub cluster met (February 8, 2011) with all relevant partners and adopted a common mechanism for monthly data collection, revised its ToR and proposed a chart that will contain all interventions, highlighting the gaps and avoid duplications. In addition, all partners involved in protection issues held a meeting (February 11, 2011) to boost the protection cluster. DRC has been appointed as co-lead of the cluster.
• Implementation of pilot documentation project aiming at delivering birth certificate and/or national identity cards to IDPs in Kaga Bandoro and Paoua to avoid statelessness and offer educational perspectives to young people. To date, 2000 birth certificates were distributed to people from Fah and Bamatara villages. The second step which includes delivering of identity cards is on the way.

Read more by downloading the full bulletin >>

For further details please contact:

UNHCR office in CAR
Mr. Djerassem Mbaiorem
Email: mbaiorem@unhcr.org | Phone: +236 21 61 32 80

The field presence map shows all towns where international humanitarian organizations have set up offices in the Central African Republic, as of early 2009. Since the map was last published, new offices have been opened primarily in the north-west, but also in north-east and south-east. In total, 11 UN organizations and 24 international NGOs are now working in CAR.

Highlights of the last few months include:

• the Jesuit Refugee Service opened offices in Bangui, Ouanda Djalle and Markounda.
• Emergency, the italian NGO, built an office and hospital in Bangui.
• Solidarites is now present in Bozoum.
• ACTED opened offices in Birao, Zemio and Bossangoa.
• Three NGOs set up operations in Bouar (Merlin, CordAid, CARITAS).
• IMC strengthened its presence in the north-east, with offices in Ouadda, Gordil and Ngarba.
• COOPI started working in Obo, in the far south-east.
• For some time now, the Danish Refugee Council has been running an office in Ndele.
• Premiere Urgence is working in Ngaoundaye.
• Action Contre la Faim has closed its Markounda office and moved to Paoua.

Please note: Office locations do not necessarily coincide with project locations, but still give a good indication of who is working where.

Download

Click here to download the field presence maps (PDF – 376KB)

(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.

Improving aid effectiveness

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 »