The United Nations mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) has announced that it is working with local authorities in the Haut-Mbomou Prefecture, in the south-east of the country, to find a rapid solution to persisting insecurity. The UN mission said Wednesday that clashes between armed groups and attacks against the Central African armed forces (FACA) have aggravated the humanitarian situation and led to massive displacements in the region.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) also reported that it is continuing efforts aimed at contributing to the protection of civilians through long-range patrols in the Mboki-Zemio axis. In addition, MINUSCA has launched quick impact projects for the rehabilitation of six bridges in the Mbomou Prefecture, to improve humanitarian access to communities as well as access for peacekeepers who are contributing to their protection.
The Central African Republic has been among the most neglected humanitarian crises for several years in a row. More than half of its population – 56 percent - requires humanitarian aid in 2023. Overall, 3.4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection this year. Among them are some 1.4 million children in need of urgent support.
The remote Haut-Mbomou prefecture is one of the worst affected regions. At the beginning of 2023 almost 80 percent of the population there were in urgent need of security and protection. Increased clashes, abductions and barricades set up by armed groups further exacerbated the situation, leaving many communities cut off from humanitarian aid.
Clashes between the Azande Ani Kpi Gbé militant group and the UPC/Siriri coalition, and Azande attacks on Central African armed forces, have worsened the humanitarian situation and led to massive population displacements. Haut-Mbomou is one of the prefectures most affected by violations and breaches of human rights and international humanitarian law, particularly in terms of casualties, documented by MINUSCA during the period August 12 to 25.
According to MINUSCA, the other prefectures most affected were Ouham-Pendé, in terms of human rights violations, and Ombella-M'Poko and Ouaka, in terms of casualties. During this period, MINUSCA documented and verified a total of 66 violations and breaches of human rights and international humanitarian law, affecting 82 victims.
Recently, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in the Central African Republic urged the international community to strengthen its support to vulnerable communities, at a time when the conflict in Sudan is worsening the food crisis in the country.
The call was made during a visit last week to the eastern region of Bria, with Reena Ghelani, the UN Famine Prevention and Response Coordinator, on an official visit to CAR. Her mission’s objective was to support efforts undertaken to prevent acute food insecurity in the country.
Currently, more than 2 million people experience acute food insecurity in CAR, and the prevalence of chronic malnutrition in children under five, at about 40 percent, is about one of the highest in the world.
"Because of the protracted crisis, the humanitarian response remains essential and lifesaving", said Reena Ghelani. “But we should also look for innovative solutions to build resilience and better integrate humanitarian, development and peace actors as well as international financial institutions.”
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), from January to June 2023, humanitarian organizations have provided life-saving assistance to more than 1 million women, men, and children. However, despite massive needs, the humanitarian response plan 2023 is only 36 percent funded, against 65 percent at the same time of the year in 2022.
According to the UN famine prevention and response coordination office (OFPRC), food insecurity levels have gone slightly down in the past few months, and the impact of the global food crisis on the population has been contained. However, the combined effects of the increase in food and fuel prices, a new refugees influx and the border closure with Sudan could lead to a significant spike in humanitarian needs.
“CAR remains a fragile country”, underlined the Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, Mohamed Ag Ayoya. “This is not the time to forget CAR. The humanitarian country team is committed to keep working with the Government and partners to respond to urgent needs, while strengthening households and communities’ resilience.”
In a statement Tuesday, the international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) called attention to the forgotten health crisis in the Central African Republic, which has one of the lowest life expectancies worldwide.
The Central African Republic, one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, has one of the lowest life expectancies in the world at only 54 years. Infant mortality rates are among the highest in the world, and pregnant women are at high risk of death or serious illness due to a lack of gynecologists.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the CAR Ministry of Health, less than half of health care facilities in the country are fully operational, and there are 0.6 doctors for every 10,000 people - one of the lowest ratios in the world. Patients and healthcare professionals experience unacceptable conditions on a daily basis.
“There are 18 of us running the hospital, but I'm the only one with medical training”, said Louis-Marie Sabio, a former MSF doctor who left the city of Bangassou to work in Bakouma secondary hospital, in the northwestern part of the Mbomou prefecture.
"Due to our limited technical resources, we can't meet the basic requirements of a hospital. We have no electricity, preventing us from performing ultrasounds or X-rays. The operating theater is virtually bare, equipped with only a small solar panel to power two lightbulbs. When patients need medicine, we have to send them to the local market and hope they find something."
By its own account, Médecins Sans Frontières supports 15 health facilities in CAR and employs 2,800 people in the country.
The Central African Republic has been troubled by violent unrest since 2012. While insecurity and violence against civilians continue to force Central Africans to flee their homes, humanitarian and development actors are helping many internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees to resume a normal life after several years of displacement.
The total displaced population amounts now to more than 1.2 million people, with over 746,000 refugees fleeing to neighboring countries and at least 486,000 IDPs displaced inside the country. With one-fifth of its population forced to flee, the Central African Republic is the country - behind South Sudan - with the second-highest level of forced displacement in Africa.
With nearly 50 percent of the population not eating enough, CAR has one of the highest proportions of critically food-insecure people in the world. Up to 2.4 million people will likely experience crisis levels of acute food insecurity - or worse - between April and August 2023. An estimated 622,000 people are facing emergency levels of hunger countrywide.
Further information
Full text: Central African Republic: Situation Report, 31 Aug 2023, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, released August 31, 2023
https://reliefweb.int/report/central-african-republic/central-african-republic-situation-report-31-aug-2023
Full text: MINUSCA alongside local authorities to find a solution to the security crisis in Haut-Mbomou, United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), press release, published August 30, 2023 (in French)
https://minusca.unmissions.org/la-minusca-aux-cotes-des-autorit%C3%A9s-locales-pour-trouver-une-issue-%C3%A0-la-crise-s%C3%A9curitaire-dans-le
Full text: Redoubling efforts to respond to the food crisis in the Central African Republic, Office of the United Nations Famine Prevention and Response Coordinator, press release, published August 30,2023
https://reliefweb.int/report/central-african-republic/redoubling-efforts-respond-food-crisis-central-african-republic
Full text: Health care is all but impossible to access in CAR—and the world doesn't seem to care, Médecins Sans Frontières, press release, published August 30, 2023
https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/health-care-all-impossible-access-car-and-world-doesnt-seem-care