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HIGHLIGHTS
Due to the combined effects of conflict-related violence, price increases linked to war in Ukraine and the consequences of climate change, 3.1 million people, including 1.4 million 2023.
children, will be in need of humanitarian assistance in the Central African Republic in UNICEF's response will prioritize child-centred, life-saving interventions supporting internally displaced people, returnees and host communities impacted by the multifaceted crises. In line with its new country programme, UNICEF will focus on community engagement, localization and humanitarian-development-peace nexus approaches.
UNICEF will provide 60,000 children with treatment for severe wasting, support 250,000 children with learning materials and ensure access to safe water for 300,000 people.
Protection needs will remain at the heart of the response, with 140,000 children accessing mental health and psychosocial support through UNICEF's programmes.
UNICEF requires US$75.3 million to meet the needs of children affected by the humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic, including US$19 million to step up the nutrition response to severe wasting in children aged 6-59 months and US$14.6 million for the Rapid Response Mechanism, the main entry point for UNICEF’s multisectoral response Humanitarian Action for Children to new humanitarian needs.
Humanitarian Needs
The humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic remains critical and volatile, although insecurity and conflict-related violence have somewhat decreased since the peak of the 2021 post-election crisis. From January to September 2022, the UNICEF-led Rapid Response Mechanism recorded 104 alerts, compared with 112 over the same period in 2021. The share of conflict-related alerts decreased from 70 per cent to 56 per cent, while flood related alerts increased significantly, with about 85,000 people affected at the end of September. The number of internally displaced people has also decreased since the post-election crisis spike of 722,000 in September 2021, but remains at a high level, with 652,000 internally displaced people recorded at the end of August 2022.
Humanitarian needs remain high. Persistent fuel shortages, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, along with sharp increases in food prices, are further worsening an already precarious situation for the 3.1 million people (including those who are displaced) in the country – 63 per cent of the population – who will need of humanitarian assistance in 2023. This includes 1.4 million children and 460,000 people with disabilities.
The number of children under 5 years of age who require treatment for severe wasting is expected to again rise by about 10 per cent in 2023, to 69,000. Two thirds of the country’s children do not attend school regularly or at all, so 1.4 million children will need help to access education in 2023. An estimated 944,000 children need protection from the psychosocial impact of conflict and the risk of sexual violence, among other protection risks. Around 58 per cent of the population will lack access to water and sanitation in 2023, a sharp increase due to conflict-related destruction of infrastructure. Meanwhile, epidemics, including measles, are expected to remain prevalent in 2023.
Humanitarian access will remain a major concern. Numerous attacks and the presence of explosive devices (especially in the northwest) have made the Central African Republic one of the world’s most dangerous places for humanitarian workers, limiting humanitarian access even as humanitarian needs continue to grow.