Humanitarian Coordinator to the Central African Republic

(Bangui, 24 January2014) : The international community has mobilized its efforts in the Central Africa Republic towards responding to the humanitarian crisis on-going in the country.

An international high-level conference on the humanitarian situation in CAR was held on 20 January 2014 in Brussels. The main objective of this meeting was to report on the humanitarian situation and the emergency response occurring in the field. Summit speakers stressed the unprecedented level of the humanitarian crisis in CAR, the scale of the emergency response to date, and the importance of having adequate funding for humanitarian actions.

CAR continues to face a humanitarian crisis of major proportions, with nearly a million displaced and 2.6 million people in need of immediate assistance. One fifth of Central Africans have fled their homes to seek refuge in spontaneous IDP sites, host families, and in the bush.

Beyond CAR, the crisis is having a regional impact: 86,000 Central Africans became refugees in the past month putting the number of Central African refugees in neighbouring countries at 245,000, and nearly 30,000 people, mostly migrants from neighbouring countries, have fled the country. The humanitarian community in CAR is gravely concerned with the escalation of widespread and sectarian nature of human rights violations on-going- and the impact that such violence is having on vulnerable populations notably women and children.”

Following the Brussels Summit, the international donor community committed to supporting humanitarian, security and development efforts in CAR, pledging a total of USD$483 million (230 billion FCFA) towards these ends; some USD$203 million (FCFA 95 billion) is earmarked to address humanitarian challenges.

With these pledges, the humanitarian community, acting through NGO and UN partners will further scale-up its efforts to provide humanitarian assistance in the priority areas of health, food security, protection, distribution of non-food items and, the provision of clean water and sanitation.

“The humanitarian community in CAR reiterates its commitment to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to those affected by the crisis. The main focus of our humanitarian strategy is to save lives and alleviate the suffering of people affected by the armed conflict” said Abdou Dieng, Senior Humanitarian Coordinator in CAR, “…however, it should be noted that the current security conditions, characterized by looting and killings, jeopardize the delivery of the assistance.

Indeed, insecurity today is preventing at least 400 trucks carrying humanitarian assistance from crossing the border from Cameroon into CAR. I appeal to the transitional authorities and the international community to make every effort possible to facilitate assistance to those severely affected by the crisis. Free and unlimited access must be ensured to allow for neutral and impartial organizations to alleviate the suffering of people across the country” concluded SHC Dieng.