Central African Republic is still going through a large scale humanitarian crisis

Geneva, 28 May 2018 – The Central African Republic is facing a major humanitarian crisis, Humanitarian Coordinator Najat Rochdi said today during a briefing to United Nations Member States in Geneva.

The humanitarian crisis that the Central African Republic has been experiencing for the past five years continues to intensify over almost the entire country. The renewed violence is affecting previously relatively stable areas where post-conflict recovery projects had started being developed, especially in the North and Center of the country. As the crisis continues, the needs are increasing and the financing of humanitarian action is far below expectations, as it has been in recent years.

"Today, the level of funding of the Humanitarian Response Plan does not allow us to cover the needs we identified for 1.9 million Central Africans who depend on humanitarian aid to survive," said Najat Rochdi. "Only 13% of the 2018 Plan is funded, or 66.7 million of the required $ 515.6 million. The situation necessitates more than ever your attention, your generosity and our collective action ". "The resources we have are no longer sufficient to provide sufficient and adequate humanitarian assistance. In some cases, food rations have been reduced by one-third and cover shorter periods, "said Najat Rochdi. "If we do not manage to mobilize the necessary resources, assistance will be reduced to a minimum and will not save lives," she warned. "Whole generations would have their futures ruined after years without access to education, thousands of children would continue to die in their first five years of life and another generation of Central Africans would be sacrificed," insisted Ms. Rochdi.

"I thank the donors for the contributions that enabled us since the beginning of 2018 to respond to a major humanitarian crisis in the city of Paoua where more than 100,000 people needed emergency assistance. Your contributions have also helped to respond to the emergency in Bangassou and more recently in Bangui, where tensions and violence have flared again with significant humanitarian consequences. However, we must go beyond that level of funding and quickly as millions of lives depend on it, "said the Humanitarian Coordinator.

At present, a growing number of people are taking refuge in increasingly remote locations, inaccessible to humanitarians, further increasing the challenge of access to the most vulnerable. In April 2018, the number of internally displaced people has reached almost 670,000 and the number of refugees also remained very high with 582,000 people in neighboring countries. This means that more than 1.2 million Central Africans, more than one in four people, is still either internally displaced or a refugee.