The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country of four million people. Repeated political and economic crises during the past 50 years have devastated the land. Displacement and poverty are widespread. The country lacks basic social services. The state of the infrastructure, including roads and bridges, is either non-existent or very poor.
An estimated 176,000 Central Africans are internally displaced and some 160,000 have fled to neighbouring countries. In addition, the country suffers from spill-over effects from internal conflicts in Chad, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and hosts some 17,000 refugees.
Due to insecurity in CAR resulting from acts of armed conflict in the north-west, north and north-east; and the Lord’s Resistance Army activities in the south-east of the country, humanitarian workers are unable to travel safely by road. In December 2012 security threats resulted in the evacuation of all international humanitarian workers. While the situation has stabilized, and the humanitarian community has returned to the country, the security situation remains fragile.In addition, during the rainy season most roads become impassable, impeding access to beneficiaries.
In the absence of reliable air service providers in CAR, WFP/UNHAS remains crucial for implementation of humanitarian projects. Over 40 humanitarian organizations rely on humanitarian air services to access internally displaced people (IDPs), refugees, host populations and other vulnerable people in to 23 locations countrywide.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Guy Luzitu, Chief Air Transport Officer,WFP/UNHAS CAR
Tel. +236 70 55 22 80