5 December 2014 The situation in the Central African Republic remained one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, the United Nations refugee agency warned today, with more than 187,000 refugees having fled to neighbouring countries over the last year, bringing the total number of refugees and internally displaced people over 850,000, about a fifth of the country’s entire population.
The figure was half a million less than at the end of December 2013, after Bangui was captured by the anti-Balaka militia, an event that triggered fresh violence and displacement according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Insecurity quickly degenerated into chaos, displacing close to 1 million people inside the country and across borders and prompting the entire UN system to respond to the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis.
“The security situation in the country remains volatile, with sporadic incidents of violence as witnessed in October, when clashes broke out between militias and international forces,” said UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler, briefing reporters in Geneva earlier today.
“Some 430,000 people remain internally displaced,” he said, stressing that the improvement did not mean an end to the situation. “It is at risk of becoming overshadowed by other pressing crises if more support is not provided.”
UNHCR and its partners presented a Regional Refugee Response Plan in 2014 that included financial requirements of $209 million. The response is currently funded at only 51 per cent and Mr. Spindler urged donors and the international community “to provide continued support and hope to the beleaguered citizens of the Central African Republic (CAR).”
“The one-year anniversary of the conflict marks one year that children have been out of school, a year of learning lost, and a year of their lives scarred and shattered,” said Sarah Crowe of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
“Nearly two years of violence in the Central African Republic has affected more than two million children and plunged the country’s formal education system into a state of crisis. Many school buildings had been damaged, looted or taken over for other purposes.”
UNICEF launched a campaign in November that aimed to help return hundreds of thousands of children to school after the deterioration in the security situation forced many teachers and students to flee.
The “Back to School” initiative aimed to help a total of 662,000 children to resume their studies, and UNICEF is delivering “school in a box” kits that contain essential equipment, such as exercise books and pencils, and school backpacks, to enable children to resume their educations. Currently, 300,000 children were reported back in school, a significant step that has had “a ripple effect throughout the whole community and lent a sense of momentum and optimism.”
Source: UN News Centre – Africa
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