On November 17, the international community gathered in Brussels promised to finance $ 2.2 billion over three years of the Plan for Rebuilding and Consolidation of Peace in Central Africa (RCPCA). Six months later, only a few of the promised funds have concretized, and the implementation of RCPCA coordination mechanisms is still being delayed.
At the same time, humanitarian funding registered until beginning of May covered only 16% of the
needs identified in the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) 2017. "This gure unfortunately reveals
the chronic underfunding of humanitarian operationsin the Central African Republic" outlined
Arnaud Lavergne, Country Director of Action Against Hunger in the Central African Republic.
Yet in the Central African Republic, nearly one person in two is dependent on humanitarian assistance. Four years after the 2013 crisis, 20% of the population remains internally displaced or are refugees in neighbouring countries; a figure that appears stable but that hides large population displacements. 48% of the population suffers from food insecurity and the majority of basic social services (health, education, water, hygiene and sanitation) are provided by international NGOs. Access to housing, land and property rights remains a challenge for families in displacement situations and an important impediment for returnees.
The country is experiencing a resurgence of violence since September 2016: clashes between armed
groups, almost daily, affect zones that had remained spared so-far (Basse-Kotto and Mbomou in
particular). Logics of predation of natural resources are re-emerging, with 60% of the territory
remaining under control of armed groups (according to Oxfam) and more than 100,000 new IDPs
counted over the last six months. In a large part of the territory, loss of human life is daily concern
and humanitarian needs increasing among the civilian population.
"This new wave of violence is also a ecting humanitarian actors, among which NGOs that have a
strong presence on the eld, and that are sometimes prevented from accessing to vulnerable
populations", said Maureen Magee, Country Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in the
Central African Republic. Threats to the safety of humanitarian workers, multiple cases of robbery or
looting have sometimes led some organizations to temporarily suspend their activities. In 2016,
according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 574 security incidents
had a negative impact on humanitarian activities; 137 incidents directly involved aid workers, and at
least 5 of them died during their mission in the Central African Republic. The Central African Republic
thus sadly holds the record of the country with the highest number of security incidents involving
humanitarian actors.
For NRC and Action Against Hunger, these various elements are a proof of the humanitarian
emergency in the Central African Republic. "If we do not want to see crises from the past repeating
themselves, the international community must strengthen its mobilization in order to allow
humanitarian actors to respond to the humanitarian, recovery and development needs of the Central
African populations" insisted the country directors. It is vital that the international community fulfils
its promises made to the people of the Central African Republic and that the commitments made in
Brussels are concretized as soon as possible.
