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) >>
The 20th of June 2011 is World Refugee Day, and to mark the occasion and commemorate this year’s 60th anniversary of the Convention of the Status of Refugees, UNHCR is launching a campaign to raise awareness of the experience of refugees and other people uprooted from their homes. The campaign will last 6 months and will present different media products including a video by the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, a gallery of testimonies of the experiences of refugees and a communicative piece inviting the public to participate and take initiative to help refugees . UNHCR asks everyone to support the campaign knowing that one single family forced to flee war or persecution is too much.
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 12th, the deployment of EUFOR troops resumed after an 11 day stoppage caused by the rebellion break through in Chad.
The instable polititcal situation in Chad has generated further delay in the deployment of the EUFOR Chad/CAR, which will support the UN mission MINURCAT already operating in Chad and Sudan. But according to Javier Solana, High Representative for the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, rebellion in Chad is not compromising the peace keeping mission: Continue Reading »
The UN/EU peacekeeping mission to Chad and the Central African Republic is rapidly taking shape. The European Union is determined to dispatch 4,300 troops from 20 countries within the next weeks. They will work alongside 350 United Nations police and military personnel who will work to protect the fragile triangle between CAR, Chad and the war-torn Darfur region in Sudan. This article is a complete round-up on the current situation of this crucial mission to stabilize the region. Continue Reading »
UNHCR and sister agencies are helping to make life more bearable in this corner of north-east Central African Republic (CAR) for more than 2,600 refugees who fled attacks on their homes in Sudan’s South Darfur region some seven weeks ago.
But conditions remain harsh in Sam Ouandja and getting supplies to the remote area located some 80 kilometres from the border with Sudan will become increasingly challenging during the rainy season. “It’s difficult here,” said Fatouma Ali Abakar, whose 20-year-old daughter has still not recovered from giving birth in Sam Ouandja three weeks ago to her first child. Continue Reading »
An Aljazeera team travelled to Sam Ouandja to document the situation of the now more than 2,700 refugess from Darfur.
The refugees had arrived in CAR after walking for more than 10 days during nights, after there home town Daffaq had been bombed. Sam Ouandja in CAR is extremely difficult to access by road from Bangui. Humanitarian partners are currently providing first emergency assistance. Click here to see more photos of the refugees.
The Central African Republic (CAR) has gone through more than 20 years of relative and absolute under-development. Today, Central Africans are worse off than they were 20 years ago.
The chart below shows Human Development Indicator (HDI) trends for CAR and its neighbours. The HDI value for CAR was 0.355 in 2006, well below the value for 1985, and essentially the same as in the early 1970s, while countries like Sudan or Chad are substantially better off today.
More than 2,600 refugees from Darfur arrived in Sam Ouandja, in the very east of the Central African Republic in mid-June 2007. They had walked for more than 10 days, at night-time, to reach safety in CAR after their homes in Daffaq in southern Sudan had been bombed.
On Monday 28 May a rapid needs assessment mission led by UNHCR and composed of BONUCA, OCHA, WFP, the NGO Triangle and the government visited the town of Sam Ouandja, located in the Haute Kotto prefecture at some 950 kms from Bangui and 80 kms from the Sudan border in north-eastern CAR.
The purpose of the mission was to evaluate the humanitarian needs of a reported influx of Sudanese refugees from the Sudanese town of Daffaq (approximately 15,000 inhabitants), 120 km from the border with CAR and 350 km south of Nyala in South Darfur.
According to the refugees, Sudanese government forces backed by armed militias described as “Janjaweed” attacked Daffaq between 12 and 18 May triggering the forced displacement of civilian populations towards South Sudan and various locations in north-eastern CAR, including Am-Dafok and Sam Ouandja. Continue Reading »
Action Press released a story on the apparent occupation of Sam-Ouandja, a town in the very east of the Central African Republic, close to Sudan’s Darfur region and about 900km from Bangui. According to the report, up to 1,000 people coming from Sudan arrived in the town last week. They are believed to be refugees. The UN will send a mission early next week to get first hand information about the situation and to assess the humanitarian consequences. Read the AP story for more info.
The UK’s leading international aid charities have launched a joint emergency appeal to save lives in Darfur, Chad and the Central African Republic.
The inclusion of the Central African Republic will allow the humanitarian community to start assistance in parts of CAR that have not seen any humanitarian or development projects in many years.
The Humanitarian and Development Partnership Team (HDPT) unites all organizations working to alleviate the humanitarian and development crisis in the Central African Republic: United Nations agencies, the Red Cross Movement, NGOs and other organizations. For more information, visit About HDPT CAR or email us at info[at]hdptcar.net
Interviews with Dr Ione
Dr Ione describes her incredible experiences in the Central African Republic. A thrilling eye-witness account of the country’s history.
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) >>
Tuesday, February 12th, the deployment of EUFOR troops resumed after an 11 day stoppage caused by the rebellion break through in Chad. 
The UN/EU peacekeeping mission to Chad and the Central African Republic is rapidly taking shape. The European Union is determined to dispatch 4,300 troops from 20 countries within the next weeks. They will work alongside 350 United Nations police and military personnel who will work to protect the fragile triangle between CAR, Chad and the war-torn Darfur region in Sudan. This article is a complete round-up on the current situation of this crucial mission to stabilize the region. 
UNHCR and sister agencies are helping to make life more bearable in this corner of north-east Central African Republic (CAR) for more than 2,600 refugees who fled attacks on their homes in Sudan’s South Darfur region some seven weeks ago.
The UK’s leading international aid charities have launched a joint emergency appeal to save lives in Darfur, Chad and the Central African Republic.
