HIGHLIGHTS
In the Central African Republic, UNHCR finalized the IDP registration exercise in the capital city Bangui and provided emergency assistance to displaced families affected by multiple fire outbreaks in IDP sites;
UNHCR launched a youth community project in Chad, an initiative providing young Central African refugees with the opportunity to develop their own projects;
The biometric registration of urban refugees in Cameroon is completed in the capital Yaoundé and ongoing in the city of Douala;
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNHCR registered 4,376 Central African refugees living on several islands in the Ubangi River;
Refugees benefit from a country-wide vaccination campaign in the Republic of the Congo.
The persistent dire funding situation of UNHCR’s operations in all countries is worrisome and additional contributions are required immediately to meet urgent protection and humanitarian needs.
Operational Context
In the Central African Republic (CAR), the largely peaceful presidential and legislative elections contributed to achieving important progress in the protection environment in CAR, however, the ongoing fragmentation of the Séléka and anti-Balaka armed factions will prove challenging for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes. Furthermore, attacks and hostilities between various armed groups, and between these groups and international peacekeepers, continue to pose a threat to civilians. In this regard, some hotspots in Haut Mbomou, Haute Kotto, Ouham and Ouham Pendé regions remain of concern (see map). In the northern prefecture of Ouham Pendé, violence between nomadic pastoralists and settled agriculturalist communities in the transhumance corridor continues whilst in Paoua and Koui sub-prefectures a coalition of armed groups are reportedly attacking villages. It must be noted that, overall, access in CAR is improving along with the gradual stabilisation of the general security situation. However, access challenges persist preventing large segments of the population from accessing aid, and protection and aid agencies from reaching them.
In asylum countries, most refugees are hosted in areas where they experienc an increased competition for natural resources. The lack of access to livelihood opportunities is likely to contribute to inter-community tensions, notably at a time when many of the World Food Programme’s food assistance operations in the region face severe cuts because of funding shortfalls. During the month, widespread bushfires took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Sud-Ubangi, where over 2,600 hectares of crops were destroyed and will likely affect the food security situation in the area. In Chad, refugees living in host villages in the south are starting to move from village to village in search of fertile land available. This situation raises the questions of the need to invest in socio-community infrastructures in the new villages such as shelters, water wells, schools, health facilities, etc. Currently, some 5,500 refugees live in 21 host villages and receive some form of assistance that contributes to their self-reliance.