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 Chad, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s internal conflicts and hosts some 17,000 refugees. Attacks by the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army, have caused further displacement in the southeast in parts of the northeast. Insecurity renders humanitarian access both difficult and dangerous.
The peace process has started and an 'Inclusive Political Dialogue', which was held in December 2008, brought together main rebel groups and the government. However, the ensuing peace process has been slow. Security is broadly under control in Bangui, the capital, whilst the Government has weak control over large parts of the country, especially the north. Presidential and legislative elections, which were held in January 2011, brought the ruling party and president back to power with a majority. Although these elections were fraught with charges of corrupt electoral practice by the opposition and international actors, the results have been accepted and the government is in place and seems set to continue peace process activities and poverty reduction measures. Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) activities, which were postponed during the electoral period, have now resumed. A round table to mobilize support and raise awareness for the country’s Poverty Reduction and Strategy Paper (PRSP II) for 2011-2015 was held in Brussels in June 2011. The event succeeded in mobilizing the international community to re-engage with the country to address the many peacebuilding and development challenges.
Political instability has led to a reduction in agricultural production, although potential agricultural output is enough to feed the entire population. The latest UNICEF multiple indicator cluster survey (MICS 2006) reports that global acute malnutrition for children under 5 is 10.2 percent and chronic malnutrition is 37.5 percent. The WFP comprehensive food security and vulnerability analysis (2009) indicates that 30.2 percent of the population are food-insecure (22.7 moderately and 7.5 severely). HIV prevalence stands at 6.2 percent, one of the highest in the sub-region. Life expectancy is just 47.7 years. Furthermore, the national net school enrolment of primary schoolchildren is 63 percent, falling to 38 percent in the northeast.
The economy suffered from the global economic downturn in 2008 and the multiple food, fuel and financial crises. These have had negative consequences for the country, and resulted in increased unemployment and decreased revenues, especially in the southern areas. This has caused the food security and nutritional status of vulnerable households to deteriorate, which requires the continuation of WFP support. Furthermore, national capacity to design and manage the development process, including the delivery of social services, remains inadequate.
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