UN launches humanitarian air service in Central African Republic

(New York: 1 November 2006): The United Nations today launched a new Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) in the Central African Republic to help humanitarian agencies reach up to one million people who have been affected by violence in the north of the country.

"In a country where operations are complicated by enormous distances and insecurity along many roads, having air capacity will boost United Nations and NGO efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance at a time when the emergency in the north is reaching alarming levels," said the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, Toby Lanzer.

The inaugural UNHAS flight left the capital city of Bangui for one of the worst affected areas of the country, Kaga Bandoro, where fighting has displaced thousands of people in the past three weeks. This new displacement adds to an already bleak situation in the north of the country, which has seen nearly 250,000 people flee their homes over the past months. Onboard the UNHAS flight were members of a joint United Nations, Red Cross, and NGO team, which will assess the humanitarian situation and plan an immediate response. "It is particularly good to see NGOs, the ICRC, and UN agencies on the mission together," Mr. Lanzer said.

The air service, managed by the World Food Programme (WFP), consists of a ten-seater Caravan propeller aircraft. It offers daily flights to destinations across the country, depending on needs. There will also be a weekly flight to Yaoundé, in neighbouring Cameroon, where many of the Central African Republic's donors are represented. In this regard, the service will enable better access into and out of the country, which currently sees only one flight to Europe per week.

"UN agencies, as well as the Red Cross Movement, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and, of course, donors and the Government will be able to use the service -- the only one of its kind in the country", said WFP representative Jean-Charles Dei. "UNHAS operates similar schemes in 15 countries, including Afghanistan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the Sudan," noted Mr. Dei.

"We need to travel constantly to the field, to strengthen our coordination with our humanitarian contacts," said Andreas Notter, Protection Delegate with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Bangui, who was on today's flight.

The arrival of UNHAS has been possible thanks to a grant of $150,000 from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the United Nations mechanism established to provide funding for humanitarian activities in response to sudden-onset and underfunded emergencies. A total of $5.5 million from the CERF has been allocated to critically underfunded programmes in the Central African Republic in 2006.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int .