Measuring Commitment to Best Practice
HRI 2008
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
After holding the first free elections in its history in 1993, the country fell into permanent internal conflict with disastrous humanitarian consequences. Last year, more than a million people were affected by the fighting in the north. The failure to consolidate democracy, the constant violence, high levels of poverty and the deterioration of the socioeconomic indicators make the Central African Republic (CAR) one of the most severe humanitarian crises in the world. The ineffectiveness of the state led the International Crisis Group to call it “a phantom state” with no institutional capacity. Despite these characteristics, the humanitarian crisis in CAR is paradoxically one of the most forgotten in the world.
The humanitarian crisis
• Victims. Since 2005, thousands of civilians have been executed and hundreds of homes burned. In 2007, according to the UN Consolidated Appeal, almost a million people suffered the consequences of the hostilities in the north. Life expectancy dropped from 48 years in 1998 to 41 years in 2007. Maternal mortality is 1,355 out of 100,000, a figure that doubles that of Sudan, with 590 out of 100,000.
• Displaced. In 2007, 220,000 people were forced to abandon their homes; 150,000 relocated within the country and 70,000 fled to other countries.
• Rape. The systematic raping of women has been used constantly as a weapon of war. The number of reports of this type was so high that it has quadrupled those of murder. The International Criminal Court began an investigation in 2007 to prosecute those responsible for these crimes.
• UN and EU Mission. The CAR’s instability, together with the instability in neighbouring countries (Sudan and Chad), threatened the security of the entire central region of Africa. In September 2007, the United Nations and the European Union established a joint mission (MINURCAT). With presence in Chad as well as the CAR, its main objective is to establish the minimal conditions necessary for the stabilisation of the region and the voluntary return of the displaced.
Sources: Consolidated Appeal for CAR, 2007; United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad; International Criminal Court
Background information on Central African Republic
• Population (2004): 4.2 million
• Human Development Index (2005): 171st out of 177 countries
• Gender-related Development Index (2005): 152nd out of 177 countries
• GDP per capita (2005): $1,224
• Life expectancy at birth (2000-2005): 43.7 years
• Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births (2005): 115
• Undernourished population (%) (2002-2004): 44
• Population not using an improved water source (%) (2004): 73%
• Adult literacy rate (%) (1995-2005): 48.6
• Official Development Assistance (2005): $95,300,000
• Political system: Multiparty Republic
Source: Human Development Report, 2007
Maps
- Refugees and internally displaced persons
- Conflict zones and rebel or population movements
Source: Reliefweb.
The humanitarian response
• United Nations. The 2007 UN Consolidated Appeal rose to 91,824,912 dollars. The donors’ contributions increased to 72% of the requested amount.
• Main donors. The main donors were the United States, with 24.1%, the Central Emergency Response Fund, with 9.2%; and Sweden, with 8.9%.
Source: OCHA, Financial Tracking Service
More information
• International Crisis Group report, Anatomy of a Phantom State. December 2007. Document that provides detailed analysis of the multiple components of the complex humanitarian crisis in the CAR.
• United Nations Consolidated Appeal for the Central African Republic, 2007. Document that assesses the needs of the population affected by the crisis in CAR.
The Central African Republic crisis in the HRI
The humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic is a clear example of a forgotten crisis with little or null presence in the media and in international public spheres. The figures caused by this long-lasting complex emergency have affected hundreds of millions of civilians.
Other crises assessed in the HRI 2008