BANGUI NOVEMBER 29, 2016 (CISA) – Nearly half of the population in Central African Republic – more than two million people – need humanitarian aid, a United Nations official said November 28.
“Humanitarian efforts are critical to save lives of people who are among the poorest and most forgotten on this planet,” Fabrizio Hochschild, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Central African Republic, said in a statement.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spells of violence, and attacks on humanitarian agencies, have restricted the delivery of assistance to those most in need in CAR, reported Thomson Reuters Foundation.
About 400,000 people have been internally displaced and nearly half a million have fled to neighbouring countries like Chad, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo due to conflict, OCHA said.
OCHA said that nearly $400 million is needed to fund Central African Republic’s 2017 humanitarian response plan and provide aid to 1.6 million people next year.
Last week, international donors promised 2.06 billion Euros ($2.2 billion) in longer-term aid, seeking to strengthen a recovery from three years of the conflict that has left the country largely dependent on the 13,000-strong UN peacekeeping force.
The latest clashes in the country broke out last week killing 85 civilians, according to the UN.
The violence in Bria – a town 600 km northeast of the capital Bangui – was the worst instance of conflict since France ended its peacekeeping mission last month, leaving security largely in the hands of UN peacekeepers.
