WFP provides food assistance to food-insecure people in the Central African Republic (CAR) through two projects:
The protracted relief and recovery operation (PRRO 200050) targets the conflict-affected north. WFP plans to support 450,000 beneficiaries in 2011 through general food distribution to 125,000 IDPs, returnees and refugees. Refugees number 15,000 and include: Sudanese refugees in Pladama, Ouaka (central CAR) as well as refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the southeast (Mbomou/Haut Mbomou) and southwest (Lobaye). Nutritional support is provided to 16,000 malnourished children under 5 and to 14,000 underweight mothers; 14,000 mothers who bring their severely malnourished children for treatment; as well as to 28,500 people living with HIV. WFP also supports school feeding to facilitate the return of 163,000 primary school children to school; food for assets for 82,000 people - seed protection rations, land restoration, rehabilitation of basic infrastructure (roads, schools); food for training for 8,000 participants (apprentice/literacy courses) and support for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR).
Under the development project (103610), during 2011, WFP plans to provide school meals to 131,500 primary schoolchildren and 4,000 pre-school children to encourage school attendance and enrolment as well as nutritional support to 43,000 malnourished children and pregnant and lactating women to contribute to reducing malnutrition. This project targets the south of the country.
Both of the above two projects end on 31 December 2011. The country office is formulating a new five-year country programme to start in January 2012. This is aligned to the government’s poverty reduction and strategy paper II (date) priority three and the UN Development Assistance Framework 2012-2016 strategic priority two. It will also contribute to UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and to WFP Strategic Objectives 4 and 5. This will have two components: nutritional activities and school meals for primary school children in the south. A follow on PRRO to start next year will be prepared as well.
In addition, WFP manages the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS). This UNHAS provides reliable and safe transport for the humanitarian community to areas which are inaccessible due to insecurity, poor infrastructure and blocked during the rainy season. UNHAS carries out a monthly average of 88 sorties, transports 507 passengers and 9 mt of cargo. Medical and security evacuations are performed as required.