Wrapping up her five-day visit to the Central African Republic (CAR), UN Deputy Relief Chief Joyce Msuya said on Friday that the country stands at a crossroads and urged global solidarity with those in need. She stressed that this is the moment to transform fragile stability into lasting progress by working together across humanitarian, development, and peace efforts.
During her visit, Msuya, who also serves as Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator for the UN, met with senior government officials, including Prime Minister FĂ©lix Moloua, in the capital, Bangui, before traveling to Zemio in the southeast, Bria in the center, and Birao in the northeast, where she spoke with displaced families, community leaders, and local responders.
âIn the Central African Republic, internally displaced families have lost everything. Livelihoods are scarce and, as always, women and girls suffer the most. Yet, the will to rebuild is strong. Donor support continues to be crucial,â she noted on Wednesday.
After meeting with humanitarian teams working in Zemio, Bria and Birao, she paid tribute to the courage and dedication of those on the front lines of the crisis,
âLocal responders are the backbone of aid â delivering life-saving support, standing with communities and keeping hope alive despite immense challenges,â she said Thursday.
Msuya noted that although humanitarian needs remain high, with more than one in three people in need of assistance, improved security in some regions has allowed displaced people to return home and rebuild their lives.
She also announced an allocation of US$8 million from the CAR Humanitarian Fund for urgent priorities in Zemio and Birao.
Msuya stressed the need for sustained international solidarity, adding that the people of the Central African Republic are not asking for charity â they are asking for dignity, stability and the chance to shape their own future.
âEverywhere I went in the Central African Republic, I saw dedication in action â communities leading, partners supporting, lives being rebuilt. Humanitarian work here is about more than relief â itâs about restoring dignity,â the deputy relief chief said.
CAR remains one of the world's most neglected humanitarian crises
For several years in a row, the Central African Republic has been one of the world's most neglected humanitarian crises. Wracked by violent conflict since 2012, the country is in dire need of support. In 2025, nearly 40 percent of the population, including approximately 1.1 million children, are in need of humanitarian assistance.
For more than a decade, the CAR has been affected by conflict and the continued presence of armed groups. Civilians continue to experience violence, including attacks on healthcare facilities, gender-based violence, and other violations of human rights and international humanitarian law as well as the impact of natural disasters linked to climate change, such as flooding. All of these factors contribute to new displacement.
One in six Central Africans remains displaced, either internally or externally, mainly to neighboring countries, due to conflict, violence, a lack of basic services, and extreme weather events. The total number of displaced people exceeds 1.1 million, including over 674,000 refugees in neighboring countries and approximately 447,000 internally displaced people, 85 percent of whom are hosted by host families.
Despite recent improvements in the security situation, humanitarian needs in the country remain acute. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), approximately 38 percent of the population is extremely vulnerable to the extent that "humanitarian assistance alone will not be enough for their well-being."
Displacement, conflict, and insecurity are still driving the crisis
Although there have been some security improvements in certain parts of the country, the overall situation remains alarming in some areas, especially in the northwest and east, and to a lesser extent in the center. Clashes between parties to the conflict and attacks on civilians and infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals, persist.
OCHA recently reported that renewed violence in southeastern CAR was hindering humanitarian operations. In the Haut-Mbomou Prefecture, for example, fighting flared up last month, forcing people to flee their homes. Humanitarian workers have been attacked, and aid convoys have been looted.
In September, violent clashes involving armed groups were reported in and around Am Dafok, a town along the border between the CAR and Sudan in the north. Several villages were attacked, and houses set on fire.
Since April 2023, CAR has hosted nearly 45,000 Sudanese refugees and Central African returnees fleeing the war in Sudan, primarily through the Am Dafok border. Additionally, CAR has hosted over 31,000 Chadian refugees, of whom more than 20,000 have returned to Chad spontaneously in 2024.
With one-sixth of its population having been forced to flee, CAR is the country with the third-highest level of forced displacement in Africa, after Sudan and South Sudan. Most refugees have fled to Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Chad.
Despite all the challenges, the humanitarian situation in the CAR has improved significantly over the past three years, as security has improved in some areas. This has allowed hundreds of thousands of people to integrate locally or return to their areas of origin since 2022.
Food insecurity threatens millions
According to the latest analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), between April 2024 and August 2025, approximately 2.2 million people â about one in three â experienced high levels of acute food insecurity, classified as IPC Phase 3 or worse. This included 481,000 people facing emergency levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 4) and 1.74 million people experiencing crisis levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3, Crisis).
From September 2025 to March 2026, the food security situation is expected to improve, with an estimated 1.83 million people in IPC Phase 3 or worse. Of those, 287,000 are classified in Phase 4, and 1.54 million are classified in Phase 3.
Meanwhile, more than 228,000 children under five are suffering or are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition, including over 61,500 children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM). According to the IPC, the nutrition situation is expected to deteriorate significantly from September 2025 to February 2026 due to high levels of disease, such as diarrhea, malaria, and acute respiratory infections.
In 2025, humanitarian agencies aim to assist 1.8 million of the most vulnerable Central Africans, for which they require $326.1 million. However, to date, only $92.8 million â less than 29 percent â of the required funding has been received.
Fragile peace undermined by persistent violence and political uncertainty
The latest report by the United Nations Independent Expert on the human rights situation in the Central African Republic (CAR), published in August, paints a picture of fragile calm overshadowed by enduring violence, institutional weakness, and an uncertain peace process, while the overall human rights situation remains precarious.
Covering the period from July 2024 to June 2025, Yao Agbetse's report concludes a six-year mandate that chronicled the countryâs slow and uneven recovery from conflict.
Although recent peace initiatives and justice reforms have shown signs of progress, the Independent Expert cautions that these gains are tenuous and are threatened by insecurity, political tension, and the pervasive influence of foreign armed actors.
The year under review was marked by the signing of the N'Djamena Peace Agreement in April 2025 between the government and two major armed groups: Retour, Réclamation et Réhabilitation (3R) and Unité pour la Paix en Centrafrique (UPC). The accord rekindled hopes for a renewed peace process; however, violence has persisted in several regions.
Armed groups â including factions that were signatories to earlier accords â continue to commit atrocities, including killings, sexual violence, torture, and forced displacement. The report documents over 2,800 violations in 2024 alone and an additional 1,600 cases in the first half of 2025.
While improving in structure and training, the national security forces have also been implicated in arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, and mistreatment of detainees. Russian bilateral forces, operating alongside national troops, have been accused of extortion, violence, and establishing illegal checkpoints.
"The persistence of abuses despite peace agreements shows that the cycle of impunity remains unbroken," notes Agbetse.
Elections scheduled for December 2025
As the Central African Republic prepares for combined local, legislative, and presidential elections in December 2025, concerns are mounting over administrative dysfunction within the National Electoral Authority (NEA). The Independent Expert warns that missed constitutional deadlines due to institutional fragility and delays could trigger a political crisis.
Although decentralization and local governance reforms are essential to restoring state authority, progress on these reforms has been slow. The postponement of the originally scheduled August local elections has further eroded public confidence.
As more than two-thirds of CARâs population depends on humanitarian aid, the report urges donors to maintain support for a country whose institutions are "too fragile to stand alone."
"The Central African Republic is still at the crossroads between peace and relapse," Agbetse concluded.
"Without sustained international support and genuine national commitment to justice and reconciliation, the human rights situation will remain precarious."