The United Nations announced the delivery of 15 million dollars (about 14.7 million euros) to alleviate food insecurity in the Central African Republic (CAR), where more than a third of the population lives “not enough to eat”.
The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, ordered the release of funds from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to “help actors promote comprehensive emergency assistance to 200,000 people in ten districtswhere food insecurity is most severe.
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The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement that the The Central African Republic has one of the highest proportions of critically food insecure peoplealong with Yemen, South Sudan and Afghanistan, for a total of 36% of the population.
A much of the population lives in conflict-affected areaswhere insecurity and displacement have reduced the areas available for cultivation and restricted access to markets and fields,” he said, noting that “the impact of the war in Ukraine is making the situation worsewith projections of a 70% increase in the prices of raw materials, until August”.
He called for a “multisectoral” approach that combined “Food aid, nutrition, health, water, hygiene and protection” to “maximize the impact of food security interventions and reduce people’s use of the negative mechanisms associated with food scarcity, increasing extreme deprivation”.
This delivery of funds is very necessary for thousands of people who struggle to eat once a day”, said the UN humanitarian coordinator in the African country, Denis Brown, who stressed that “The priority is to save lives”.
“This emergency response help people feed themselves, restart farming where possible, and treat malnutrition. It will also ensure that people have access to health services and clean water, two fundamental requirements for adequate food”, he argued.
In this way, six UN agencies will increase the food and money deliveryas much as distribution of agricultural tools and seeds. This will be complemented by increased treatment and prevention of child malnutrition and improve access to drinking water for families with severely malnourished children.
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The African country plunged into a serious crisis in 2020, after the impeachment of former president François Bozizéwho returned to the country at the end of 2019 to run for president again, a position he abandoned in 2014 due to the revolt of the predominantly Muslim Séléka rebels.
After that, the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) – which brings together several rebel groups, including several signatories of the 2018 peace agreement – launched an offensive that took it to the outskirts of the capital, although since then the army has stood firm. advances against the rebels, led by Bozizé.
Legislative elections were held in phases due to insecurity and amid opposition allegations of irregularities and fraud in the process.
Source: Observadora
