State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2013 - Central African Republic

In the CAR, political divisions, tensions among ethnic groups and spillover conflict from neighbouring Chad, Sudan, the DRC and Republic of Congo have contributed to chronic instability.

In 2012 several discrete conflicts caused internal displacement and hampered humanitarian assistance to those affected. In the west and north-central areas, farmers clashed with nomadic pastoralists in search of grazing land for their livestock. In the north, the Chadian Front Populaire pour le Redressement (FPR) rebel movement operated despite joint efforts by both armies, raising tensions between Muslims, particularly those of Chadian descent, and other citizens.

LRA attacks, which had abated over previous months, resumed in January. By year's end, the UN signalled an increased LRA presence in south-eastern CAR, with nearly 50 separate attacks causing scores of deaths and abductions. Some of the LRA leaders wanted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity were believed to be operating from the CAR, and the threat of LRA attack seriously curtailed movement, disrupting farming, hunting and trade and exacerbating poverty.

In May the UN Secretary-General expressed particular concern about the vulnerability of the CAR's Mbororo, cattle-herding nomads, not only to LRA abductions for ransom but also to stigmatization by other ethnic groups who suspected them of being associated with the LRA because of their nomadic way of life. Mbororo have also reportedly been attacked by security forces and others mistaking them for Chadian rebels.

In December, an alliance ('Seleka') of dissident elements from three former rebel groups made rapid gains, securing key towns and threatening the capital Bangui; they accused the government of failing to honour promises made during earlier peace deals. President François Bozizé was overthrown in March 2013, after the rebels seized key government buildings including the presidential palace. A deal had been signed between Bozizé and the rebels in January 2013, but the rebels quickly began accusing the former president of reneging on key aspects.

Health

Conflict and displacement make access to health care, already exceedingly poor in the CAR, even more difficult. Experts reported that the CAR faced a perpetual health crisis, with little international support. In 2011 the CAR had the second-lowest life expectancy in the world, at 48 years.

A survey by medical NGO Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) indicated that, alarmingly, children under the age of five accounted for almost half of all reported deaths in parts of the country. An update on progress towards the MDGs in Africa indicated that the CAR was one of the four countries in the region – all in or post-conflict – with the highest infant mortality rates; and one of the eight countries – again all in or post-conflict – with the highest maternal mortality rates. It was one of only seven African countries where immunization coverage declined between 1990 and 2010.

With the region's highest rate of HIV infection, the country faces what The Lancet described as an 'escalating HIV epidemic'.

According to its 2010 MDG report, the government judged it impossible to meet the 2015 target reductions in child and maternal mortality (MDGs 4 and 5). With regard to MDG 6, it reported that while stopping the spread of HIV was impossible, reducing malaria was possible.