The humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR) continues to be exacerbated by violence against civilians and insecurity in locations outside urban centers, forcing more than one in five Central Africans to move in and out of the country. Millions of people are experiencing increased vulnerability, eroded livelihoods, and severely limited access to basic services such as health care and water. 3.4 million people – 56 per cent of the population – need humanitarian assistance and protection, a 10 per cent increase compared to 2022. Of these, 2 million people have needs so severe and complex that their well-being depends on humanitarian assistance. The country has never recorded so many people in need since 2018.
To meet the needs of the most vulnerable, the Government of the Central African Republic and the Humanitarian Country Team officially launched today the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan. The humanitarian community is targeting 2.4 million people in need for humanitarian assistance and calls for the mobilization of US$ 465 million to implement life-saving interventions. The response strategy in 2023 will be based on a multisectoral response to various types of needs, localization to strengthen the response by national and local actors, accountability to ensure the response is in line with expectations of those in need, and the nexus to establish a link between the emergency response and assistance to support the return of displaced persons.
In CAR, the crisis for which civilians continue to bear the brunt intensified in 2022 with an increase in violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law, and an upward trend in reported cases of gender-based violence and increased incidents involving explosive devices. Security and logistical constraints continue to hamper access to vulnerable people, while the operational environment remains challenging. Every two days in 2022, violence and other security incidents affected humanitarian workers, killing one and injuring 24 others.
The Humanitarian Coordinator in CAR, Mr. Mohamed Ag Ayoya, stressed the importance of humanitarian actors continuing their efforts to alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable Central Africans who depend on humanitarian assistance for their survival. “Despite the difficult operating environment, humanitarians stay and continue to deliver needed assistance. Any attack on humanitarian actors is an attack on thousands of Central Africans in need of humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian actors and civilians must never be a target,” Ayoya said.
In 2022, thanks to donors’ generosity, the humanitarian community provided multi-sectoral life-saving assistance to 1.9 million of the most vulnerable Central Africans. “I thank donors for their continued generosity to the people of the Central African Republic, and I urge them to maintain the same dynamic in 2023, in an environment where additional resources will undoubtedly be required to meet the ever-increasing needs,” concluded Mr. Ayoya.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
