Amnesty International Press Release (20 Oct 2011)

Central African Republic: Civilians bear the brunt of decades of violence and abuses

Local and foreign armed groups in the CAR are still killing, abducting, torturing and raping civilians, as well as burning houses and looting property, Amnesty International said in a report released today.

The report Central African Republic – Action needed to end decades of abuse describes how CAR’s population has been terrorized for decades by armed groups who have been able to operate with virtual impunity.

Despite peace agreements and a fledgling Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration process, armed conflict continues to ravage the country resulting in civilian deaths and mass internal displacement.

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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.

Activités du Conseil Danois pour les Refugiés en République centrafricaine 2009-2010

DRC s’est officiellement installé en RCA en aout 2008 et oeuvre dans trois sous-préfectures du pays : l’Ouham, l’Ouham Pendé et la Bamingui Bangoran.

Ouham
Depuis janvier 2010 DRC est basée à Batangafo où elle a relevé un projet éducation mis en oeuvre par le “Conseil Norvégien pour les Refugiés” NRC.

Ouham Pendé
DRC s’est installé en aout 2008 à Paoua où elle dispose d’une base pleinement opérationnelle. En 2009 elle a élargie son rayon d’action dans 4 autres sous-préfectures de l’Ouham Pendé à savoir : Bozoum, Bocaranga, Ndim, Ngaoundaye. Au total on dénombre donc une base (Paoua) et 5 antennes (Bozoum, Bocaranga, Ngaoundaye, Koui et Ndim).

Bamingui Bangoran
Depuis octobre 2008 DRC est installé dans la ville de Ndélé avec une pase pleinement fonctionnelle.

Read more about DRC’s strategies, objectives, projects, outputs, lessons learned and perspectives by downloading the Annual Report (1.3 MB) (French version only) >>

For further details please visit the DRC CAR webpage or contact:

Gilles Ponserre
CAR Country Director
drccar@drc.dk

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

HDPT’s Info Bulletin no 48 (February 18 – February 25, 2008) 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 »

(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 »

©Triangle GH

Several thousand villagers have fled their homes in the Ouham prefecture, north-western Central African Republic. By 18 October, at least 1,800 people are said to have arrived in Kabo, while at least 750 sought refuge in Gbaïzera, 40 km south of Kabo. The rise in internal displacement poses a significant challenge to humanitarian aid organizations, many of which have little access to the region. Continue Reading »