Pierre Holtz/UNICEF/Feb 08
The United Nations humanitarian wing today appealed for donors to provide another $26 million to support its aid activities in the impoverished Central African Republic (CAR), where more than 200,000 people remain displaced from their homes by persistent conflict and banditry over the past two years.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the aid programme launched by the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the CAR this year needs $116 million in funding, but has received only $90 million so far.
UN agencies have vastly expanded the number of programmes they provide in the CAR to help the growing numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees now living in neighbouring countries such as Cameroon, Chad and Sudan.
Humanitarian agencies have also strengthened their presence outside the capital, Bangui, by increasing their number of offices from seven just two years ago to 46 this month.
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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 »
Meningitis is spreading across 3 north-western districts in the Central African Republic and now threatens the lives of up to 1 million people.
National authorities have declared an outbreak of meningitis after several cases and numerous deaths have been reported in the districts of Ouham, Ouham Pendé and Nana-Grebizi in the first five weeks of the year.
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National stocks of vaccines for the lethal disease are running short. The World Health Organization (WHO) has requested $100,000 from the United Nations Emergency Response Fund (ERF). Continue Reading »
Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) and United Nations agencies together have ranked all projects in the emergency appeal for the Central African Republic (CAR), which is a part of the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) for 2008.
Overall, 37 of 75 projects in the country’s appeal were identified as ‘high’ or ‘immediate’ priority. These projects, which carry a price tag of $29 million, will provide life-saving assistance to 1 million people, including 200,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 3,000 Sudanese refugees. Continue Reading »
(New York/Bangui, 23 January 2008). A new wave of internal displacement in the Central African Republic’s northern region has prompted the opening of the first camp for internally displaced people in the country. These recent population movements are a result of an increase in violence perpetrated by zaraguinas, or bandits. Continue Reading »
This mission to Sam Ouandja, north-eastern Central African Republic, was conducted to visit a camp providing shelter to almost 3,000 refugees from Daffak in Western Darfur, Sudan. The mission also visited local health centers and other projects.
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