A. Situation analysis
Description of the disaster
Since December 2013 when armed clashes erupted in the capital of Bangui in the Central African Republic (CAR) pitting predominantly Muslim Seleka and predominantly Christian Anti-Balaka militia groups; periodic violence has continued to affect the population. In late September 2015, following the death of a taxi driver, there was renewed violence in Bangui, which led to deaths, injuries and destruction of property and looting. In Bangui and in several other parts of the country, there has continued to be sporadic violence reported, which has caused some humanitarian organizations to suspend activities, and evacuate their staff.
As of 27 November 2015, the situation remains volatile; civilians in Bangui and across the country continue to live in desperate conditions experiencing increasing challenges in meeting their most basic needs. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) there are nearly 400,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in CAR, of which at least 44,000 living in camps in Bangui; while approximately 454,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries. In CAR, the “hot areas” of the country continue to shift from time to time. However currently they include: Bangui, Bambari, Dekoa and Sibut in the central part of the country, Bossangoa and KagaBandoro in the north, Boali in the south and Alindao in the east. In December 2015, a constitutional referendum is scheduled (13 December 2015), which will be followed by the first round of elections (on 27 December 2015), and then possible second round elections (in January 2015). It is a fear that if the results of the elections are disputed, it will lead to more violence.
On 23 December 2013, a CHF 245,476 DREF operation was launched for three months to assist 25,000 beneficiaries in Bangui. On 25 February 2014, an Emergency Appeal (EA) for CHF 1,136,640 was launched to support the CAR Red Cross (CARC) to assist 50,000 people (10,000 families) for a period of 12 months. In response to the evolving situation, on 2 September 2014, Revised Emergency Appeal n°1 was issued for CHF 10,556,774 to assist 150,000 Emergency Plan of Action operation update Central African Republic: Civil Unrest people (30,000 families). Over the intervening months, IFRC in collaboration with the CARC and other partners have responded to the needs of the affected population, with interventions in the areas of emergency health, psychosocial support, water, hygiene and sanitation and advocacy for peace, among others. On 18 September 2015, an Operations Update was issued, which provides information on the progress made against the Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA).
The Operations Update extended the timeframe of the EA by three months to enable the responsible closure of the operation, and the joint planning of a new operation with other partners. On 19 October 2015, another Operations Update was issued which drew attention to the evolution of the situation and illustrated the immediate needs following the resurgence of violence in Bangui.
This Operations Update requests an extension timeframe of six months (New end date: 31 May 2016) to ensure the CARC to respond to the continuing needs of the population beingaffected by the crisis. This will enable joint planning of a new EA operation by all components of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in CAR, which had been anticipated between September and November 2015, but has been delayed due to the deterioration of the security situation and revised priorities that it raised. The IFRC CAR country representation will work in close collaboration with in-country Movement partners, namely the French Red Cross, International Committee of the Red Cross, and Qatari Red Crescent Society. It will also collaborate with colleagues in the IFRC Central Africa and Africa Offices to develop the new EA to ensure an appropriate, strategic and coordinated Movement response.
The EA has been supported by contributions from the Canadian Red Cross/Canadian Government, Chilean Government, Danish Red Cross/Danish Government, Finnish Red Cross, Japanese Red Cross, Iranian Red Crescent, Netherlands Red Cross, Red Cross of Monaco, Singapore Red Cross, Spanish Red Cross, Swedish Red Cross and United States Government (USAID). IFRC, on behalf of the Central Africa Red Cross would like to extend its thanks to all partners for their generous contributions to this EA.