CAPE TOWN - The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has allocated R165 million from the Humanitarian Fund (HF) to cover the most urgent humanitarian needs in areas severely affected by violence in the Central African Republic (CAR).
In a statement on Friday, the agency said the fund will assist in areas of very high vulnerability where an upsurge in violence has exacerbated acute humanitarian and protection needs. This violence has been accompanied by serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including towards sites for internally displaced persons.
“The civilian population bears the brunt of the worrisome increase in violence and needs our assistance more than ever,” said Denise Brown, humanitarian co-ordinator for the CAR.
She called on all parties to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and to protect civilian infrastructure and humanitarian personnel.
This allocation of funds will allow humanitarian partners to scale up multi-sectoral assistance projects in priority sectors, protection, emergency shelter and non-food items, and co-ordination and management of IDP sites, among others.
“The Humanitarian Fund allocation comes at a critical time for hundreds of thousands of people in distress and whose survival is threatened. I am deeply grateful to donors for their generosity and trust in the Humanitarian Fund,” said Brown.
She said the allocated funds will target the most vulnerable people in 12 prefectures, including Basse-Kotto, Haute-Kotto, Haut-Mbomou and Mambéré-Kadéï, among others.
Already critical, the humanitarian crisis in CAR deteriorated at the end of 2020 following the resurgence of armed violence in several parts of the country. More than 730,000 people are internally displaced, a level not seen since 2014, according to OCHA.
Some 2.8 million people, more than 50% of the population, need assistance and protection. Despite one of the most dangerous operating environments in the world, the humanitarian community provided multi-sectoral assistance to more than 1.2 million people in the first quarter of 2021, the UN agency said.
ANA