Fresh waves of violence in the CAR trigger new population displacements

• The new surge in violence reported since the beginning of the year is triggering new internal and cross-border population movements. According to the UNHCR, approximately 50,000 additional people have been displaced since the beginning of the year.

• Large crop production shortfalls, the premature depletion of household food stocks, and major disruptions to household livelihoods will create Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or higher levels of food insecurity in all areas of the country until the end of the upcoming lean season in August 2015. In addition, certain displaced populations in localized areas could face Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of food insecurity.

The security situation is still volatile, with reports of violence in Bangui and a number of prefectures and sub-prefectures across the country. According to the UNHCR, these attacks have displaced an estimated 50,000 additional people since the beginning of the year, including 30,000 people inside the country and the rest to neighboring countries. Most of these new population displacements are to northern areas of the country. The elections scheduled for mid-2015 could also be accompanied by social unrest and violence, which may lead to even larger-scale internal population displacements.

Crop production levels that are well below the 2008-2012 five-year average, the premature depletion of household food stocks, and major disruptions to household livelihoods are creating Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels of food insecurity or worse in all areas of the country, particularly in northern (Ouham), western (Ouham Pende and Nana-Mambéré), southern (Ombella MPoko, Bangui, and Basse Kotto), and central (Kemo and Ouaka) prefectures especially hard hit by the current violence and population displacements. The same prefectures are also showing the largest number of children suffering from global acute malnutrition.

The increasingly frequent outbreaks of violence, which could trigger larger-scale population displacements in the coming months, along with the upcoming elections and this year’s unusually early start to the lean season (between March and August), could increase the number of people facing Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels of food insecurity or worse in the next several months. In addition, certain displaced populations in localized areas could face Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of food insecurity before the end of the lean season in August.

Security issues on roads and in IDP camps are a major constraint interfering with the delivery of assistance to food-insecure populations. That said, the operationalization process for the humanitarian response plan included the identification of seven (7) programs for which project briefs were prepared by NGOs. These programs are designed to deliver adequate  vital assistance to populations in a state of emergency, restore the livelihoods of households facing food crises and emergencies by providing access to productive assets and markets, build resilience by strengthening socioeconomic structures, promote inclusive access to and management of natural resources through dialogue and shared economic opportunities to improve communications between different ethnic groups, and monitor, analyze, and report on the state of food security. The food assistance component of this plan involves distributions of food rations to approximately 400,000 people and the operation of school feeding programs. Such assistance accounts for approximately 40 percent of total funding needs.