THE already serious humanitarian situation in Central African Republic (CAR) has worsened amid a spike in violence, which threatens to overtake almost every area of the country, UN aid official said.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator for CAR, Ms Najat Rochdi, said in Geneva that one in four people has been displaced, including areas that were formerly peaceful, such as the north and central zones.
“It breaks my heart every time a child comes to me and says I’m hungry,” she said, lamenting over severe funding shortages, which had meant aid cut-backs.
“Where you have kids, those little girls and little boys coming to you and looking at you and telling, ‘I’m hungry, I’m starving,’ it’s horrible, really horrible.
“Unfortunately the situation has worsened because we had in one year’s time an increase of 70 per cent of the internally displaced people.
“Meaning more children, more little girls and more little boys, meaning also that it’s a whole generation that is sacrificed because they are not going to school.”
Rochdi warned that severe acute malnutrition in six administrative regions was higher than 15 per cent – the emergency threshold – and infant mortality is at 18 per cent.
She said it was very important to keep providing them with humanitarian assistance, which meant going beyond food distribution, the access to water, and the access to health adding “It’s just access to hope.”
Of the more than 515 million dollars aid requirement needed in CAR for 1.9 million people in 2018, less than 20 per cent has been provided so far.
In spite of the instability and fact that funding levels in 2017 were only 40 per cent of what was requested, she maintained that it still made a substantial difference on the ground and had helped to prepare communities to withstand future shocks too.
It meant that more than one million people had access to water, that 7,000 tonnes of humanitarian assistance were delivered and more than 60,000 children were given an education.
In addition, the aid ensured that more than 70,000 farming families received a vital seed allocation, helping them to become more self-sufficient.
More than 17,000 children from six to 59 months suffering from severe acute malnutrition were also given support.
The most important thing was that the people of CAR had some sense that they had a future, Rochdi said, adding that humanitarian assistance “is making the difference between life and death”.
“Aid is also the best way for all of us to sustain peace in CAR since the funding gave communities hope,” she added.
Fighting between the mostly Christian anti-Balaka militia and the mainly Muslim Séléka rebel coalition has plunged the CAR into civil conflict since 2012
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