CAR: UN Allocates US$10 Million For Life Saving

By Newsfromafrica

BANGUI – The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Valerie Amos, has allocated US$10 million to support the most critical life-saving aid operations in the Central African Republic (CAR).

This is an additional $10 million allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to CAR in a short period, bringing total funding to the current crisis to $20 million. On 9 December, three days before a system-wide Level 3 emergency (the highest level of crisis response) was declared for CAR, the ERC approved $10 million from CERF.

“CAR has plunged into chaos and deadly violence following months of political crisis and lawlessness. More than 2.6 million people are in need of assistance,” said ERC Amos. “People across the country are living in fear.”

More than 700,000 people have fled their homes and are internally displaced. With the rainy season fast approaching, aid agencies fear conditions for people in camps will deteriorate rapidly.

The CERF funds will go to the most critical relief projects. But the CERF allocation is not enough. “Needs in CAR are tremendous, and humanitarian partners are being forced to prioritize the delivery of assistance,” Ms. Amos said, urging donors to make good on $496 million pledged at the High-Level Meeting on Humanitarian Action in CAR in Brussels on 20 January.

Less than 13 per cent of the requirements in the $551.5 million CAR Strategic Response Plan have been funded. Millions of people depend on this plan for survival.

But humanitarian assistance alone cannot solve the situation in CAR, warned Ms. Amos. “Security and stability must be urgently restored, and more must be done to address the root causes of conflict and prevent escalation of violence,” she said.

In 2013, amid massive funding shortfalls, CERF allocated $17.1 million to provide assistance in CAR. It provided an additional $8 million in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and $2.4 million in Chad to assist refugees from CAR.

CERF pools donor contributions into a single fund so that money is available to start relief work immediately when needs arise. Since 2006, 125 Member States and dozens of private-sector donors and regional Governments have contributed $3.39 billion to the fund. CERF has allocated more than $3.3 billion for humanitarian agencies operating in 88 countries and territories.