Central African Republic
Central African Republic
Type of intervention
- Nutrition and health
- Food security
- Water, sanitation and hygiene
Places of interventions
- Bangui
- Bossangoa
- Nola
- Bouguila
Vast and poorly populated country, the Central African Republic is a landlocked territory in a subregion especially volatile in terms of politic and security. The CAR is a fragile country, even qualified as “ghost state” because of the weakness of its government despite the 2011 elections.
In Central African Republic, close to 70% of the population lives under the poverty line. It’s a vulnerable country which situation is aggravated every year for more than 40 years. Despite a certain economic recovery following the 2008 crisis, the economic growth is too low to have an impact on the poverty reduction and the employment. The CAR remains fragile to any economic shock.
Education and health results are one of the lowest in the subregion and the state investments in those two sectors are limited. If some progresses are registered in stabilized areas, the situation is getting worse in the Eastern country.
Further, health public centers lack of funds and qualified staff. In the absence of governance, faiths communities and international NGOs replace the public service.
Despite a great agricultural potential, food insecurity and acute under-nutrition are permanent key problems in the whole territory. The fight against food insecurity and under-nutrition has a structural and conjectural aspect. The underlying causes are numerous, complex and have an influence on each other.
In CAR, Action Against Hunger focuses its intervention on nutrition, food security and water, sanitation and hygiene. Over 2011, ACF has developed local partnerships in prevention and under-nutrition care, the water access improvement and the food security for the population.
Funding
ACF, UNICEF, ECHO, UNDP, HCR, EuropeAid, AFD CIAA
Key figures of the country
Number of beneficiaries: 82 316
Population: 4,5 million inhabitant
Life expectancy: 48,5 years old
Human Development Index: 179/187
GDP/inhabitant: 448 US$
Sources: UNDP, UN
Il n'y a pas de résultat
ACF started its intervention in Central African Republic in 2006 to answer to UNICEF’s call on a nutritional issue. ACF’s founding project in CAR was based on a development approach and a capacities reinforcement project for the Health Minister in Bangui and for Ouham’s prefecture. During this opening step, ACF has also developed programs in nutrition and agriculture.
In 2007, ACF has positioned itself on an emergency response to support the conflict victims in the Northern country (Chadian border). Since 2007, ACF has maintained its commitment in improving the detection and under-nutrition care, as well as developing solutions for the underlying causes of the disease. ACF has reinforced its presence in the country through emergency activities and by implementing bases for future development projects.
This positioning was confirmed in 2009, when ACF proposed more programs to address under-development issues which are central regarding the number of people affected and the indicators’ gravity. In the same time, ACF had to respond to a nutritional emergency linked to international (economic crisis) and national (water availability and food security) factors in the Southwest country.
Thanks to it’s experience, ACF has reinforced its positioning in 2010, in a dual mode:
- Continuing ACF’s interventions by working on the structural causes of under-nutrition, by reinforcing the health’s system structures, and by care and detection of under-nutrition.
- Reinforcing ACF’s capacities on the mission to respond to conjectural humanitarian crisis.
2011 allowed ACF to reinforce its response among displaced populations (Boguila’s and Markounda’s subprefectures), to anchor in the Southwest with an integrated project (Sngha-Mbaéré’s prefecture) and to confirm its mid-term presence in Bossangoa’s subprefecture through two structural projects (food security and water availability). In 2011, ACF also strengthen its collaboration with local partners to improve the population water access, food security and under-nutrition care.
This year, ACF also marked a split in its detection and under-nutrition care approach in Central African Republic by the implementation of a communitarian approach and with different surveys made on its Bangui and Bossangoa programs.
For 2012, ACF will continue to develop those 3 lines on its nutrition and health, food security and water, sanitation and hygiene programs:
- Communitarian approach
- Partnership strengthening
- Integrated approach