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OCHA – Central African Republic: Information Note - 10th anniversary of the Humanitarian Fund

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Nearly 860,000 people assisted every year since 2008 thanks to the CAR Humanitarian Fund

Bangui, 10 August 2018 -The Central African Republic Humanitarian Fund of the (CAR HF) is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Established on 31 July 2008, this multi-donor humanitarian funding instrument managed by OCHA CAR, under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator, has a twofold objective: to support the humanitarian reform by ensuring predictable, flexible and timely humanitarian funding in response to the priority needs of vulnerable communities and to strengthen the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator and the humanitarian coordination system at large.

Since its creation, the Fund has mobilized US$ 188.7 million, of which $181 million has been allocated for the implementation of 484 humanitarian projects. In 2014, the activities of the CAR HF intensified following the spike of the humanitarian crisis at the end of 2013. The resources allocated by the CAR HF have enabled the provision of multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance to millions of people from the most vulnerable groups.

During a 10-year period of funding, the CAR HF has supported response to humanitarian emergencies in various sectors where the needs are the most acute. As a result, the CAR HF has enabled more than 1.7 million people to have access to safe drinking water and to other sanitation and hygiene activities for a total disbursement of $22.2 million. Nearly 2 million people have had access to adequate health care and more than 600,000 people have received food assistance. Over $10 million has been invested to provide shelter and non-food items to more than 430,000 people and a $10 million allocation has saved the lives of nearly 485,000 children and women through nutritional assistance programmes. Over this decade, the CAR HF has also funded support programs through the logistics cluster for $5.7 million, including the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), thus enabling the humanitarian community to gain access to the most remote locations and to provide assistance to the most vulnerable people. This emergency assistance targeted IDPs at IDP sites and within host communities, as well as returnees.

This vital assistance would have never been possible without the committed support of 11 donors1 : Sweden (37.6), the Netherlands (37.4), Ireland (34.8), the United Kingdom (33.5), Denmark (13.1), Germany (10.1), Belgium (8.1), Norway (6.3), Switzerland (4.8), Luxembourg (1.5) and Canada (1.5).

During the last three years (2015 to 2017), the CAR HF has been among the top five sources of funding for the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) with a contribution of 11.5 per cent in 2017. In addition, the Fund remains the most important donor for national humanitarian partners with 3 per cent, 13 per cent and 4 per cent allocated to them respectively in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The CAR HF has contributed significantly towards strengthening the institutional and operational capacities of the latter.

The humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic has continued to intensify since the end of 2016. Today, out of a population of 4.6 million inhabitants, 2.5 million people, including nearly 608,000 displaced persons, need humanitarian assistance. The Central African Republic remains one of the countries in the world with the highest number of people in need compared to the total population. The persistence of armed conflict and chronic structural issues exacerbate the humanitarian needs of already vulnerable populations, who depend mainly on the humanitarian community for the provision of basic social services. The need to respond to the most urgent needs remains a major objective. Resource mobilization for the humanitarian response remains a challenge and a major priority in order for the CAR HF to maintain its capacity to provide the humanitarian community with the financial resources required for rapid and coordinated humanitarian response and to continue to “save lives”. “Humanitarian response is not only a matter of figures, it is above all the faces of children, women and men that we meet on the ground, longing for peace”, recalls Najat Rochdi, Humanitarian Coordinator in the Central African Republic.

For more information, please contact OCHA CAR
Joseph Inganji, Head of Office, +236 70738730, inganji@un.org
Yaye Nabo Séne, Chief, Public Information + 236 70 08 75 65, seney@un.org
Press releases are available on www.unocha.org or www.reliefweb.int

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