IOM intends to provide multisectoral humanitarian assistance to conflict and disaster-affected populations in the Central African Republic (CAR) and support communities transitioning out of conflict to help generate early peace dividends and social cohesion while promoting durable solutions tailored to the local needs and priorities of internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees and crisis-affected communities.
CONTEXT ANALYSIS
The Central African Republic (CAR) has been affected by a complex political and security crisis since 2013, leading to an acute humanitarian situation. Displacement and violence occurring in a fragile national context have had serious consequences on the protection of civilians, their living conditions and their physical and psycho-social well-being (CAR ranks 188 out of 191 countries on the UNDP 2022 Human Development Index). CAR is a Least-Developed Country (LDC) and one of the poorest countries in the world and continues to be impacted by its long history of conflict. Due to a combination of political, geographic, and social factors, CAR is also recognized as highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, ranked 181 out of 182 countries in the 2022 ND-GAIN Index. The Central African Republic is at risk from numerous natural hazards, dominated by floods, wildfires and droughts. Vulnerability to these hazards is exacerbated in the country by poverty and political insecurity. This has also heightened the country’s vulnerability and ability to recover. Heavy rainfall is expected to result in flooding, causing riverbank erosion and/or overflows, landslides and waterlogging of agricultural fields leading to crop failures.
The 2023 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) identifies 3.4 million people in need (57% of the population), among whom 2 million are in acute need, with half being children under the age of 18. According to the latest report from the Population Movement Commission, 505,059 people are still displaced, of whom 30 per cent are in sites and 70 per cent are in host families, with acute humanitarian needs prevalent (Rapport CMP – October 2022). According to Mobility tracking evaluations of the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Round 16, 177,805 people were able to return home during 2022, but these returns remain fragile. Humanitarian needs remain pronounced across water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health, education, food, livelihood and shelter in return areas and it has been reported that 21 per cent of returnees choose to return despite these challenges.
Among the displaced population, approximately 21 per cent (99,344 individuals) moved for the first time in 2022, including 65,806 persons displaced between June and August 2022. These recent waves of displacement were generally caused by armed violence that has affected the North-western, as well as the Central and Eastern parts of the country.
Localized flooding, mostly in Bangui and the prefecture of Ombella Mpoko has also contributed to the recent displacement waves. In CAR, multiple significant flood events have occurred over the past years and while many go un/under-reported (the most reported flood events occur around the capital city of Bangui) they are still responsible for displacing around 43,500 (9% of the current estimated number of IDP in CAR) according to the DTM Mobility tracking Round 16 report (September 2022).
Additionally, the disruptive action of armed groups and resource management challenges during major transhumance movements (cross-border and internal) in CAR has led to agropastoral conflicts and violence. As of September 2022, four per cent of displacements were caused by violence related to agropastoral conflicts, particularly in the northern and western prefectures (DTM, Round 16, September 2022).
In this context marked by violence, the number of serious human rights violations and cases of gender-based violence (GBV) increased throughout 2022 (GVBIMS, September 2022). People use high-risk coping strategies to deal with the deterioration of their living conditions and well-being and struggle to access health care, food, potable water, shelter and education facilities (HNO 2022).
Source: International Organization for Migration