Situation Update, March 2025

Last updated: March 2025

• In 2024, the humanitarian community in CAR plans to assist 1.9 million most vulnerable people. US$ 367.7 million is required.
• Humanitarian actors provided life-saving assistance to 2 million people in 2023.
• Faced with insecurity in their villages, Chadians seek refuge in northwest Central Africa

March 2025

Humanitarian needs remain high in the Central African Republic (CAR), despite the recent improvement in the security situation in some localities, with still high proportions of vulnerable people revealed by the annual multi-sectoral needs assessment. This is the finding from evidence-based data collected from households, joint analysis of the context by the humanitarian community, and consultations with representatives of affected communities.

Even if the trend of recent shocks facing the population has been decreasing in the last two years, particularly clashes between armed men, the situation remains worrying in regions where insecurity is still present and where the population is exposed to structural and climate-related issues. As a result of the insecurity, one in five Central African remains displaced either within the country or abroad, mainly in neighbouring countries. Clashes between parties to the conflict and attacks on civilians and associated infrastructure remain recurrent and continue to lead to new displacements which have a negative impact on the well-being of the population.

The scale of humanitarian needs

2.4 million people - or 37.5 per cent of the population - are extremely vulnerable in 2025, to the extent that humanitarian assistance alone will not be enough to restore their well-being. The drop in this number compared to 2024 is partly linked to the improved security situation in certain localities, and to the fact that the humanitarian community has carried out a rigorous analysis and targeting of humanitarian needs, advocating for development funding where the situation has improved. Border regions with Chad and Sudan, the south-east and the west continue to face challenges of insecurity and displacement.

To ensure that the preferences of affected communities were considered, 14,000 households took part in focus groups with humanitarian actors. As a result, the priority needs expressed by affected communities relate to water, hygiene and sanitation, food security and health sectors respectively.

The cost of the humanitarian response 

To meet the above needs, considering priorities and available resources, the humanitarian community will need to mobilize US$326.1 to assist 1.8 million of the most vulnerable Central Africans. Priority zones for humanitarian assistance are those affected by shocks (conflict and violence, disasters, epidemics, etc.) in the last 12 months and/or those where internally displaced persons represent at least 25 per cent of the total population. In the remaining zones, the humanitarian community will encourage other actors, notably those involved in development, to capitalize on the achievements of the humanitarian response to address structural problems. However, as the Central African context has shown, a region that was once stable can suddenly experience shocks, triggering humanitarian needs. In support of the government's primary responsibility to ensure the well-being of the population, humanitarian actors will continue to maintain a physical presence throughout the country, to ensure that no-one is left behind, in line with available resources and existing priorities.

Increasingly limited resources

Already a source of concern in 2024, resources to meet humanitarian needs in 2025 are severely testing humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian programs were halted in 2024, while several organizations had to reorganize their operational presence, including in closing their offices. 2025 began with the suspension of the US foreign aid, which supported around 50 per cent of the humanitarian response in CAR in 2024, including life-saving food assistance, healthcare and drinking water supply. Furthermore, as most of the affected people live in hard-to-reach areas and therefore require more resources, humanitarian actors may be faced with difficult choices.  In anticipation of the scarcity of resources, the humanitarian community has worked on a plan to operationalize the humanitarian response to set common priorities for greater efficiency. 

In support of the government, humanitarian actors will continue to respond to needs arising from recent shocks, particularly in areas experiencing population movements, epidemics and climate-related shocks affecting people's livelihoods. This approach will lay foundations to build on in times of stability, thus complementing the national development plan, which aims to reinforce security and develop infrastructures.

Gender-based violence (GBV) has reached alarming proportions in the Central African Republic (CAR), driven by socio-cultural norms that are unfavorable to women and girls, despite the existence of policies and legislation on the matter. This situation is exacerbated by the ongoing crisis that has affected the country for several years. Violence against civilians and insecurity in localities outside urban centers continue to increase the vulnerability of several million people, including women, whose livelihoods are being eroded and whose access to food and basic services, including health care and water, is severely limited. 2.8 million people - 46 per cent of the population – are so vulnerable in 2024 that humanitarian assistance alone is not sufficient to restore their well-being.

An alarming rise

Although internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees are often the most visible face of the crisis in CAR, GBV, especially sexual violence, has recently reached particularly worrying levels. Every hour in CAR, more than two people are victims of GBV, mostly women and girls. In the first half of this year alone, over 11,000 cases of GBV were reported. During the third quarter of this year, more than 4,500 cases of GBV (35 per cent of rape, 26 per cent of physical assault, 19 per cent of psychological violence, 13 per cent of deprivation of resources, 5 per cent of sexual assault, 2 per cent of forced marriage) were reported. 96 per cent of survivors are women and girls. Among the types of GBV, rape cases (35 per cent) remain the most reported. According to statistics from the Gender-Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS) collected by dedicated services in 2023, reported GBV incidents had increased by 1,910 cases, which is an 8 per cent rise compared to 23,644 cases reported in 2022. The prolonged humanitarian crisis, which causes increasing stress within households, leads to the adoption of negative coping mechanisms such as survival sex and early marriage of girls, exacerbating GBV and predominantly affecting thousands of women and girls.

Surviving or facing risks

This is the challenging choice that many women sometimes have to make in CAR, in a context where access to livelihoods such as fields, as well as to basic services such as water and health care, is severely restricted by insecurity resulting from the conflict. The annual multi-sectoral humanitarian needs assessments indicated a feeling of insecurity for at least 25 per cent of surveyed households, showing risks for women and girls in accessing water, wood collection areas, and other distribution points. These locations are of critical importance for the daily survival of households, yet they particularly expose women and girls to high risks of GBV, including sexual violence, sexual exploitation and abuse, domestic violence, survival sex, forced marriage, and denial of resources, among others.

A challenge for available resources

In the 2024 third quarter, only 27 per cent of GBV survivors received psychosocial support and medical care within the required 72 hours. In February, the Humanitarian Coordinator allocated US$ 3 million from the CAR Humanitarian Fund to address the gap in GBV interventions and foster innovation, which represents 25 per cent of required funding for the GBV area of responsibility under the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan. Due to the lack of funding, many if subjected to GBV do not receive timely and required services and assistance they deserve. Attacks on health infrastructures by parties to the conflict make it also difficult for GBV survivors to receive medical assistance, and for the population as a whole to access health care services. Confrontations between parties to the conflict have led to the closure of a number of health facilities, depriving thousands of life-saving health care services. For instance, in April, armed clashes in the south-east region deprived 5,000 people of medical care.

After several decades of conflict, one in five Central African is displaced either within the country or abroad, particularly in neighbouring countries. Some of the 6.1 million Central Africans have been forced to move from one town or commune to another, often several times. In this context, humanitarian and development actors are working in support of the government to enable Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and some refugees in the Central African Republic (CAR) to resume a normal life where circumstances permit.

Durable solutions to displacement is the key term. This means leaving displacement sites or integrating local community and ending dependance on humanitarian aid. A durable solution, when achieved, means that people no longer need specific assistance and protection linked to their displacement. Durable solutions include voluntarily returning home or place of residence, resettlement in another part of the country or integration into the host community. IDPs and refugees often need support in their efforts to gradually return to a more or less "normal" life. While humanitarian actors are making efforts to respond to urgent and immediate needs of IDPs and refugees, the commitment of partners in the development, peace and security sectors, in support of the government, is required to implement durable solutions in the context of the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus.

The integrated village

Since 2022, in two years, 930 IDP families have moved to Pladama Ouaka, a rural municipality around 10 km from Bambari in the Ouaka Prefecture, integrating several services with the support of humanitarian and development agencies, and local authorities. Each family has been granted 300 m2 of land where brick houses and latrines were built. Socio-community infrastructure such as classrooms, a market, a mini water supply system, boreholes for drinking water, solar-powered street lamps for lighting at night, arable land and a grazing area have also been made available to maintain their livelihoods.

Originating from various regions of the country ravaged by violence, these families had fled violence in various parts of the country and had lived in a site in Bambari for years until it was burnt down in May 2021, forcing the IDPs to leave. Once again displaced, they settled in the mosque, from which they were again evicted, and in different areas of Bambari, where they lived in very difficult conditions and were also exposed to protection risks and epidemics.

Local authorities had identified Pladama Ouaka, a community of 50,000 people, as a favorable location for voluntary resettlement, and had allocated 124 hectares of land to accommodate these people. Around 1,000 families agreed to settle there almost immediately. Initially, around 500 families were supported in their resettlement by various United Nations agencies, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), various NGOs including ACTED, AID, APADE, HOPIN, Humanité et Inclusion (HI), Intersos, International Medical Corps (IMC), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Tearfund, Triangle, World Vision and local authorities.

The 10 km road from Bambari had been rehabilitated to facilitate access and reinforce security through police patrols. After an initial phase during which people moved into transitional shelters, brick houses with straw roofs were built, one for each family with one toilet per household.

"I'm so happy to have a house, because a man without a house is considered as nobody in the community," says Ibrahim Hassan, who had been displaced for 10 years after fleeing Kouango in 2012, and who was one of the first families to move into the new brick houses in Pladama Ouaka. "This house and the large plot of land give me back the dignity I had. They give me more serenity in my occupations for the well-being of my family. My children's future will be filled with joy and not pain, and that makes me very happy", says this father of seven.

An additional hangar had been built at the local health center and a school building rehabilitated. School supplies and learning materials were distributed to teachers and students, and benches and tables were provided to the school. Three boreholes had been drilled in the integrated village and are now providing drinking water to its inhabitants and the surrounding communities. Food security partners had distributed gardening kits to help them grow vegetables. Community management structures had also been strengthened to resolve conflicts and promote social cohesion.

To ensure the sustainable resettlement of these populations and to consolidate the achievements made, 15 village savings and credit associations were formed and income-generating activities are developed for 300 households. This programme will enable these populations to get new livelihoods through self-employment, to create profitable and sustainable sources of income that will strengthen their capacity for resilience and self-financing of projects.

Resettling an entire town

In May 2022, a similar durable solutions project was launched in Bria, in the Haute-Kotto prefecture, where the country's largest IDP site is located. 37,000 IDPs were then living on this site located 3 km from the town (PK3), in a commune that counts 75,000 residents. Many of them had fled violence and insecurity from central Bria in 2017 and 2018. Since 2021, the security situation in Bria has been continuously improving and state authorities, including the police, armed forces and justice have returned. Today, the prefectural authorities are supporting the voluntary return of 3 455 families in Bria. 

With the support of humanitarian and development partners, this families are being provided with building materials to rebuild the ruined houses. Support in the form of cash and materials, including brick presses, is helping to facilitate production so that returnees can make their own bricks and build semi-durable shelters and houses. Between 2022 and 2023, the NGO OXFAM completed 11 water boreholes and eight autonomous solar water stations, which are now benefiting the new returnees. Since the beginning of the pilot project, the number of IDPs living on the PK3 site continue to decrease, from around 37,000 at the beginning of the programme in May 2022 to 12,000 in February 2024. This dynamic has also led to the spontaneous return of other families to their regions of origin. To make it easier to settle back into their neighborhoods, families were also given cash to buy non-food items, or to develop income-generating activities.

Although much work remains to be done to find durable solutions for the 12,000 IDPs still living on the PK3 site, there is now a sense of hope for a more normal life outside the IDP site.

Additional resources required

Between December 2023 and January 2024, IOM conducted a survey on the future intentions of IDPs, with the aim of informing and guiding sustainable solution strategies in the country.

According to the results of this survey, 58 per cent of IDPs living on sites intend to integrate locally and sustainably in their current region of displacement, 22 per cent wish to return to their regions of origin, 7 per cent opt for resettlement and 13 per cent are not ready for durable solutions or are undecided. As for IDPs living in host communities, 69 per cent intend to integrate locally and sustainably in their current regions of displacement, 12 per cent wish to return to their regions of origin, 3 per cent have opted for resettlement in another region and the remainder are not ready or undecided in terms of durable solutions.

The CAR Humanitarian Fund has played a catalytic role in providing funding to support the voluntary return of IDPs, in line with recent years’ strategic response, which aims, among other, to strengthen the resilience of populations in regions of stability, through sustainable solutions to protracted displacement. This dynamic has led to the involvement of other donors, notably the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO). Thanks to this funding, humanitarian actors and the UNDP continue to put in place durable solutions for nearly 6,000 returnee families to be resettled in Bria, Bambari and Kaga-Bandoro.

Assistance provided by humanitarian actors is the first step in supporting returns. It will need to be complemented by the involvement of more development actors and the government, and financially supported over the long term.

A major displacement crisis

As a result of insecurity, one Central African in five remains displaced either within the country or abroad, mainly in neighboring countries. As of 30 May 2024, the total number of IDPs in CAR is estimated at 451,000 people, of whom 18 per cent were in sites and 82 percent in host families. This corresponds to a 13 per cent drop in displacements compared with April 2024, when the number of IDPs was estimated at 518,000. However, since the beginning of the year, around 5,000 people have been displaced each month due to insecurity. In addition, 750,000 people have taken refuge abroad, mainly in neighboring countries, as a result of insecurity.

Since the end of 2022, the trend in movements of population observed in Bria, in the center of the country, has been towards return. In January 2023, the PK3 site was home to 37,000 people, compared with 12,000 in May 2024, a drop of around 63 per cent. This drop is justified by the implementation of support to return programs, while the improvement in security conditions in the regions of origin is also encouraging spontaneous returns of IDPs.

In the Central African Republic (CAR), 2.8 million people – or 46% of the population – are extremely vulnerable to the point that humanitarian assistance alone is not enough to restore their well-being. Assessments carried out by humanitarian actors can determine the extent of needs, understand their nature and define the necessary response approach. To develop an adapted and local program, the humanitarian community also collects the points of view and feedback of beneficiaries on the assistance received. This feedback allows the community to place these people at the heart of the response and to adapt assistance accordingly. Each year, the number of households consulted as part of the humanitarian program cycle increases in CAR. There were 28000 in 2023, up 22% compared to 2022.

Mainstreaming the thematic

The Accountability to Affected Populations Working Group (AAP), integral part of the coordination group of the different sectors (clusters) of humanitarian intervention (Intercluster), is responsible for implementing and monitoring these mechanisms aiming at involving communities and ensuring that the principles of accountability towards affected populations are applied.

Since 2019, the AAP Working Group facilitated by UNICEF and OCHA has set up collective feedback mechanisms in several humanitarian interventions areas across the country. These mechanisms include Information and feedbacks centers (CIF) present mainly in sites for internally displaced persons. In 2023, nearly 7500 community complaints were collected via these mechanisms. The same year, a mobile approach for these mechanisms aimint at collecting comments in hard-to-reach areas was tested, allowing to collect several complaints cocnerning food assistance, monetary and protections issues. In 2024, the AAP Working Group set up 20 CIF in Bria, Bambari, Kaga-Bandoro and Paoua in the center and west of the country. Those CIF were set up by national NGOs and directly managed by the communities and their leaders. Mobile feedback collection teams have also been strengthened to cover hard-to-reach areas in the north, southeast, center and west of the country.

The AAP Working Group also ensures that the voices of communuties collected through various fedback mechanisms are taken into consideration by the humanitarian actors for corrective actions at the strategic level. This technical group produces perception trend analyzes of Central Africans on the effectiveness of the humanitarian response and its capacity to cover essential needs, then advises humanitarian partners on the corrective measures to take.

In addition, the collective approach to accountability towards affected communities in CAR also includes the establishment of a humanitarian information service. In 2023, this information service included 22 operational community radio stations. These local radio stations notably produced and broadcast messages on the measures to take to deal with the floods and to benefit from humanitarian assistance. When Sudanese refugees arrived in Birao in the north of the country, the emergency information service, through community radio Yata, was pivotal in informing refugees about the arrangements put in place by humanitarian actors to support them. They also received more than 3000 solar-powered or hand-cranked radios. Community radio support for humanitarian interventions also remains important to ensure wide dissemination of the results of the annual needs assessment to communities, and in particular how they are used to guide strategic planning of the humanitarian response.

The establishment of the humanitarian information service is an important pillar of accountability to affected communities and highlights the need for greater transparency in targeting criteria, and better communication on the limits of humanitarian assistance.

Major challenges to overcome

Community perception surveys reveal a low level of knowledge of complaint and feedback mechanisms. Only 27% of beneficiaries know how to file a complaint, and this figure drops to 13% among non-beneficiaries. Communities with a strong humanitarian presence, such as those of Obo, Bria, Zemio and Kaga-Bandoro, show a better understanding of these mechanisms. Two main factors explain this poor understanding: on the one hand, the mechanisms put in place by humanitarian actors are often not adapted to the channels preferred by communities. On the other hand, those who know how to use these mechanisms are often discouraged from doing so, because humanitarian actors do not respond to all the complaints and feedback submitted to them. “We did not receive enough responses to our complaints when we put them in the suggestion boxes, but thanks to direct exchanges with humanitarian actors, we feel better listened to,” explains Nadège Muzilut, a displaced woman participating in a community meeting to collect feedback and complaints organized by the mobile team of the local NGO Cinéma Numérique Ambulant (CNA). The response rate of humanitarian actors to community feedback is around 25%. It is important to strengthen communication on the use of feedback and complaint mechanisms, and at the same time to improve the response rate.

Improve feedbacks and complaint management mechanisms

Efforts to improve the response rate began in 2021 by digitalizing the system for collecting and referencing the feedbacks and complaints. Humanitarian actors specializing in emergency telecommunications then automated the common mechanisms for managing feedback and complaints by digitalizing the collection form through the SugarCrm customer relationship management application. Launched in September 2021 in Bria with the support of the World Food Program (WFP), UNICEF and the international NGO INTERSOS, this application is now capable of guaranteeing timely referrals and responses to complaints and feedback received as part of the collective mechanisms. In 2023, 3530 feedbacks and complaints were collected via this platform, and 98% received a response from humanitarian partners.

In 2024, the Humanitarian Country Team approved an AAP strategy alongside key actions to inform communities about the existence of complaints mechanisms, strengthen collective mechanisms through fixed and mobile approaches, strengthen community participation in the response planning and needs assessment process, and develop minimum AAP standards adapted to the interventions of each sector.

Communities at the heart of complaints and feedbacks mechanisms

In 2024, humanitarian partners received funding from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Central African Republic Humanitarian Fund (CAR HF) to advance the implementation of collective feedback mechanisms. The CAR HF funds eight mobile feedback teams and the maintenance of the digital application, while CERF funding will enable the creation of nine community-led information and feedback centers. These two complementary funding streams aim to ensure the sustainability of feedback mechanisms by integrating them into local community structures so that they endure beyond the end of the projects. Using the same digital application to refer and respond to feedbacks facilitates monitoring and joint decision-making. Additionally, these initiatives strengthen the participation of national NGOs in collective AAP activities, contributing to localization efforts in CAR. This funding is crucial to ensure the implementation of the AAP strategy, which enhances a human-centered approach in the implementation of humanitarian interventions.

Localization of humanitarian aid in the Central African Republic (CAR) is now a priority, emphasizing the crucial role of local and national actors in effectively responding to humanitarian crises. The 2016 World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul highlighted the contribution of national and local actors to the success of humanitarian action. By valuing the knowledge and networks of local organizations, this approach allows for the design and implementation of more effective and sustainable emergency interventions. Local NGOs, on the front lines of the country's multiple crises, play a crucial role due to their deep understanding of the context and direct access to affected populations. Humanitarian aid localization represents an essential strategy to enhance the responsiveness, efficiency, and relevance of humanitarian response in a country where 2.8 million people, or 46 per cent of the population, are extremely vulnerable and where humanitarian assistance alone is not sufficient to restore their well-being.

Focusing on local actors for delivering effective humanitarian aid

In 2022, the humanitarian community established a Localization Task Force that brings together platforms and forums representing national and local actors, national NGOs, as well as international organizations engaged in localization. The strategy of the Localization Task Force aims to strengthen the representation, participation, and leadership of national NGOs in humanitarian coordination structures, as well as their involvement in humanitarian response through capacity building and funding support. To support national actors, it is important to quantify and map their presence. Thus, in collaboration with the Inter-NGO Council in the Central African Republic (CIONGCA) and other platforms representing national NGOs participating in the Localization Task Force, a mapping of national and local actors was developed in 2023 and revised in 2024. This exercise demonstrated that national NGOs are present in 96 per cent of the Central African territory.

These various actors also established a list of the challenges faced by national and local actors, and developed strategies and action plans with four clusters to ensure that national and local partners can progressively assume leadership and co-leadership roles in existing coordination structures. Opportunities for capacity strengthening were also identified, and the Localization Task Force ensures that national actors are informed, actively participate, and have access to direct and flexible funding.

The strategy of the Localization Task Force also complements the efforts of the government and specialized actors in development and peacebuilding, enhancing synergy between humanitarian and sustainable development initiatives.

"For example, by participating in strategic guidance structures of the humanitarian response such as the Humanitarian Country Team and the Advisory Committee of the Humanitarian Fund for CAR, we ensure that accountability to affected people is considered, and that national capacities are integrated as much as possible in the humanitarian response," explains Anita Bissa, Coordinator and Founder of the women's NGO Wali Ti Kodro (WTK) and member of the Advisory Committee of the Humanitarian Fund for CAR (CAR HF).

Initial progress recorded

Localization is part of the responsibilities of the HCT, and a strategic focus of the humanitarian response in 2024. The CAR HF has increased its direct funding rate to local and national NGOs from 7 per cent in 2022 to 20 per cent in 2023, with a target of reaching at least 25 per cent in 2024. Out of the US$ 15.8 million allocated by the CAR HF in 2023, US$ 3.16 million (20 per cent) was directly awarded to national NGOs, marking an increase of over 200 per cent compared to the previous year. Concurrently, 22 per cent of the US$ 11 million allocated by the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) was indirectly allocated to 11 national NGOs. The CAR HF has promoted localization to strengthen national capacities, supporting 124 national actors and assessing the capacities of 21 potential partners, 76 per cent of whom were national NGOs. Among the 12 new partners funded in 2023, eight were national NGOs, and 23 per cent of funded national NGOs were led by women.

"We appreciate the progress made in recent years in localization, enabling national NGOs to be at the forefront of the humanitarian response in CAR. This has resulted in significant participation of national NGOs overall, and women's organizations, notably by playing a leadership role in strategic decision-making on the humanitarian response in the Central African Republic," said Anita Bissa during the UN Member States briefing on the humanitarian situation in CAR held in New York in June 2024.

The CAR HF also facilitated capacity-building sessions for 30 national and local NGOs, resulting in increased quality project proposals and an allocation of 27 per cent of funds to national NGOs in 2023, including 20 per cent in direct financing. For 2024, CAR HF priorities include continued collaboration with clusters and working groups, representation of women-led organizations, and the goal of channeling 25 per cent of funding through national NGOs. Efforts will be made to translate national progress into provincial action plans, in collaboration with regional coordination structures.

Much remains to be done

Localization of humanitarian aid in CAR has indeed progressed in 2023, with clear priorities set for 2024. Local and national actors constitute the largest group of humanitarian actors in the 2024 humanitarian response plan in CAR. It is essential to strengthen efforts to ensure equitable partnerships with national NGOs, secure adequate funding, and their meaningful integration into coordination and decision-making structures. While funding for national NGOs by the CAR HF has significantly increased, direct funding within the Humanitarian Response Plan, the main resource mobilization source, remains below 2 per cent. There have been advances in financing mechanisms led by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), but this is not the case for other mechanisms. 

Despite efforts by CAR HF and CERF, these have had little impact on overall funding for local NGOs. "We would like to see more actors, particularly donors, set quantifiable funding targets for national organizations," explained Thierry Adoum, Secretary General of CIONGCA. "We would like international actors to understand that funding national actors does not equate to localization. Furthermore, it is essential to include them in all decision-making and strategic program-setting processes," he continued. Moreover, the level of capacity remains a barrier to equitable opportunities to assume leadership and co-leadership roles at the national and sub-national levels. The inclusion of local partners on the ground in the implementation of humanitarian programs remains a major challenge, as these actors are still largely concentrated in Bangui. By valuing local actors and empowering them, the humanitarian community strives for a more effective, sustainable, and locally responsive response tailored to the needs of the Central African populations.

March 2025

Since 2021, accidents involving landmines and other explosive devices have remained a significant concern in the Central African Republic (CAR), particularly in the western region. However, in 2024, a decrease in these incidents has been observed, reflecting efforts in awareness-raising and demining efforts in high-risk areas.

Civilians remain the most affected despite the decline

In 2024, a total of 74 incidents and accidents involving explosive devices were recorded, resulting in 13 deaths (including 11 civilians) and 28 injuries. These figures represent a decrease compared to 2023, when 27 people (including 22 civilians) lost their lives and 55 were injured in 79 incidents and accidents involving explosive devices. However, civilians remain the main victims.

Over the past four years, the western part of the country remains the most affected, notably the prefectures of Ouham, Ouham-Pendé, Nana-Mambéré, and Mambéré-Kadéï. This regional concentration highlights ongoing challenges in securing these areas and protecting civilians. Despite the decrease in 2024, the data underscores the need to strengthen demining, prevention measures, and victim assistance, particularly in high-risk areas in the west.

For the first time in CAR, anti-personnel mines were discovered in 2022 near Bambari in the Ouaka Prefecture. The population found them and reported to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and MINUSCA, which destroyed the devices before they could harm someone. Anti-personnel mines are prohibited under the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention, which has been in force in CAR since 2003.

In July 2020, the suspected use of anti-tank mines was first reported in the country since the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSCA was established in 2014. One of the suspected devices damaged a MINUSCA tank in the west near the border with Cameroon.

Without distinction

The victims are diverse: a family, children, farmers, a humanitarian worker, merchants, armed elements, UN peacekeepers, soldiers and priests. Explosive devices that detonate by the presence, proximity or contact of a person cannot distinguish between civilians and combatants, raising important concerns about the principles of distinction and proportionality under international humanitarian law.

Restrictions on humanitarian access and socio-economic activities

The presence or suspected presence of explosive devices severely limits humanitarian access to vulnerable people in a context already marked by access restrictions due to armed conflict and physical access constraints.

In the prefectures of Ouham, Lim-Pendé, Ombella M'Poko, Ouham-Pendé, and Mambéré-Kadéï in the west of the country, nearly 465,000 people targeted for the humanitarian response in 2025 are at risk of having their assistance delayed or suspended, particularly in the sectors of food security, nutrition, access to clean water, protection, and gender-based violence response. Even if assistance by air can be considered, it remains limited due to its high cost and operational priorities.

Civilians who use various roads and pathways to run their income-generating activities and to access livelihoods, such as farming, are severely restricted in their movements in this region where food insecurity remains critical. In this context, the presence of security and demining actors remains essential for the protection of civilians and the implementation of humanitarian operations.

Protecting civilians and humanitarian workers

Since 2022, Humanity & Inclusion (HI), an NGO funded by the CAR Humanitarian Fund, has been conducting awareness campaigns for vulnerable populations in Bocaranga and Koui (Ouham-Pendé Prefecture) about the dangers of explosive devices. These campaigns teach safe behaviors to reduce the risks faced by affected communities.

In 2024, HI, in collaboration with two local women's organizations—Zo Kwe Zo (ZKZ) and the Association des Femmes pour la Promotion de l’Entrepreneuriat (AFPE)—carried out explosive risk education (ERE) activities in the Bocaranga and Koui sub-prefectures (Ouham-Pendé). Thanks to the active involvement of these partners, 98 per cent of the project’s objectives were met, reaching nearly 13,000 people.

Special attention was given to the inclusion of persons with disabilities, women, girls, and the elderly. A total of 120 community focal points, including local leaders, teachers, and representatives of people with disabilities, were trained to continue awareness-raising activities after the project's completion.

In 2024, UNMAS conducted awareness-raising campaigns on explosive hazards for 20,650 people, including 13,950 children, in the Nana-Gribizi, Nana-Mambéré, Ouham, Ouham-Pendé, and Mambéré-Kadéï prefectures. Awareness-raising signs were placed in strategic locations, and visual materials such as drawings and photographs were used to teach necessary precautions, marking, and reporting procedures for explosive devices.

Despite awareness-raising campaigns that have been conducted, there is a need to strengthen risk education given the magnitude of the problem. Additional resources may be needed to expand the reach of risk education projects for children, women, and men in the most affected areas.

Watch a video on the danger of explosive devices in western CAR here.

In neighboring Sudan, clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have continued since the beginning of the conflict in April 2023, resulting in massive displacement of population. In two years of brutal fighting, severe food security is affecting Sudan, with some areas likely to experience catastrophic levels by the lean season. In August 2023, the Central African government signed a decree granting prima facie refugee status to Sudanese fleeing the conflict.

Since then, the Central African Republic (CAR) has welcomed nearly 43,000 people, including 36,437 Sudanese refugees and 6,360 Central African nationals who had previously sought refuge in Sudan. Over 25,000 refugees have settled in the Vakaga prefecture (Korsi/Birao), one of the poorest and most remote regions in the country, characterized by harsh climatic conditions, frequent droughts, and erratic rainfall that exacerbate resource scarcity and challenges for both displaced persons and host communities. The remaining, more than 11,300 individuals, are in hard-to-reach areas (Bamingui-Bangoran, Haute-Kotto, Ouaka, Mbomou, and Haut-Mbomou) where only protection, registration, and documentation services are provided due to the complex security context and logistical challenges. Ongoing attacks between conflicting parties in Sudan continue to create risks of further displacement, potentially prompting additional Sudanese to cross the Am Dafock border to seek refuge. With the end of the rainy season improving road accessibility, increased refugee arrivals, including in Korsi, are anticipated.

Economic consequences

As a result of insecurity along the border area, traffic between Sudan and CAR has been severely disrupted, causing a sharp increase in the price of basic commodities. Sudan supplies several towns in CAR, particularly Birao in the Vakaga Prefecture and Ndélé in Bamingui-Bangoran Prefecture. During the rainy season from April to October, access is very challenged and supplies largely depend on Sudan. For some items, prices have doubled at the onset of the crisis. A 50 kg bag of sugar, which was sold for XAF 40,000 before the conflict, rose to XAF 80,000 in Birao. Similarly, a small bowl of millet, previously sold for XAF 500 was priced at XAF 1,000. Humanitarian community intervention helped establish some price stability by supplying several tons of certain products from Bangui to Birao. The northern region of CAR was already experiencing acute food insecurity, a situation that is projected to reach one of its most severe stages if an adequate response is not forthcoming.

Humanitarian response

In 2025, 579,000 individuals in the northern region encompassing the Vakaga, Bamingui-Bangoran, Ouham, Ouham-Pendé, and Nana-Gribizi prefectures, are extremely vulnerableto the extent that humanitarian assistance alone is not sufficient for their well-being. Sudanese refugees continue to arrive in areas with significant humanitarian needs, further straining the already limited resources. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the National Refugee Commission (CNR) are coordinating border monitoring, the reception, screening, and registration of new arrivals. In collaboration with the CNR and the humanitarian community, including UN agencies as well as international and local NGOs, UNHCR is providing vital assistance such as protection, food, clean water, emergency shelters, latrines, essential household items, healthcare, and education. Over 25,000 refugees are being assisted at Korsi, a neighborhood identified by the government in the city of Birao, in the Vakaga prefecture, 65 km from the Am-dafock border. Similar humanitarian response is also organized in Ndele (Bamingui-Bangoran) and Sam-Ouandja (Haute-Kotto).

According to UNHCR’s 2025 Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP), USD 76.4 million is required to meet the needs of over 50,000 Sudanese refugees, including 20,000 new arrivals, as well as 2,457 returning Central African nationals (with 1,000 expected in 2025) and 27,900 host community members. The response is structured in three phases. The first phase focuses on ensuring access to territory and asylum for new arrivals by guaranteeing biometric registration and proper documentation, and by providing a comprehensive inter-agency response on the ground. The second phase concentrates on identifying and assisting refugee returnees, reintegrating Central African nationals and former refugees who have returned under adverse conditions, who will receive targeted support and specialized protection services. Finally, the third phase will shift the response towards building resilience and social cohesion by promoting sustainable, community-based interventions, particularly through the involvement of civil society organizations led by displaced persons, women, youth, and individuals with disabilities.

Decrease in Humanitarian Funding

In the current global context of underfunded humanitarian assistance, humanitarian partners are facing increasing constraints in maintaining critical programs and meeting the needs of the most vulnerable populations, leading to difficult decisions. 

The UNHCR and the World Food Programme (WFP) have warned of an imminent shortage of emergency aid needed to support over 30,000 refugees and their host communities in 2025, requiring urgent funding of USD 14.8 million. The crisis is further exacerbated by growing food insecurity, insufficient access to basic services, and mounting pressure on already vulnerable communities, particularly in areas where humanitarian access remains difficult. WFP, which has already provided food assistance to nearly 20,000 refugees, risks having to reduce its distributions due to insufficient funding, thereby compromising the immediate survival and future of these populations.

In April 2023, more than 38, 000 people, mostly women and children, including more than 6, 000 Central African returnees arrived from Chad in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 53 villages in the communes of Mia-Pende and Bah Bessar, located north of Paoua in the prefecture of Ouham-Pendé, fleeing intercommunal conflicts involving an armed group. They are staying with host families, themselves living in one of the country's most vulnerable situations, while others have managed to return to Chad. 

To provide better protection to asylum-seekers, the government had identified Betoko as a reception site, where people fleeing Chad can register and receive multisectoral assistance. In 20 June 2024, World Refugee Day, the Central African government has granted Prima Facie refugee status to the 3,194 Chadians residing in Betoko. As of 31 July 2024, UNHCR and CNR conducted a verification with local authorities to determine how many of the approximately 29,000 Chadian asylum seekers were still residing in areas outside Betoko. Following this verification, authorities reported that 6,712 asylum seekers were still present in these locations

A protection crisis

Since the end of 2022, incursions by this armed group, against a backdrop of inter-community tensions particularly related to transhumance, have undermined the protection of the region's populations. Several civilians have been killed, among others for belonging to one or the other of the communities close to one or the other of the parties to the conflict. Commercial transactions in this border region is disrupted by insecurity resulting from various armed incursions and the levying of additional taxes, increasing price of food and non-food products by up to 50 per cent. Food insecurity in the region is among the most critical in the country, and access to fields for asylum-seekers and residents remains severely limited. In May 2023, CAR and Chad launched joint military operations to protect civilians on both sides of the border. A month later, a high-level delegation comprising the Prime Minister and Senior Officials from the United Nations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) visited Bedaka in the Paoua Sub-prefecture to assess the scale of the situation.

Humanitarian needs have exploded

This population movement occured in a region where humanitarian needs were already among the most severe in the country, and resources to cope with additional needs are becoming increasingly limited. In 2024, Lim-Pendé remains the prefecture with the highest number of people in need of assistance, which was also the case the previous year. According to the Humanitarian Needs Overview, 401,000 people are extremely vulnerable to the extent that humanitarian assistance alone is not sufficient for their well-being, with the arrival of asylum seekers further increasing the burden. 

Pressure on existing infrastructure and basic services in host communities has also increased. According to local authorities, the number of inhabitants in some villages has increased almost tenfold. As a result, access to water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH), as well as health, has become problematic. In the locality of Bembere, Sub-prefecture of Paoua, the minimum distance to the nearest health facility is 7 km. Faced with this situation, which can lead to tensions between host communities and asylum-seekers, strengthening mechanisms for the prevention and management of inter-community conflicts is necessary for the implementation of emergency aid programs.

Deploying the response

Since June 2023, the humanitarian community has been providing multi-sectoral assistance in the Sub-prefecture of Paoua, as well as in Markounda, regions hosting asylum-seekers. This response also covers host families. Humanitarian workers distributed food rations to 29,200 asylum-seekers and host families. These rations covered 30 days' worth of food. Additionally, cash has been distributed to over 350 households, including 250 households among the most vulnerable asylum seekers at the Betoko site, and the rest to host families. There are still unmet needs in the distribution of seeds to provide asylum-seekers' families with alternative food sources. More than 840 families in Bedaka and surrounding areas have received non-food items (NFI) including tarpaulins, soap, water purifiers, buckets, sanitary towels, clothes and shoes. Some of these families also received emergency shelters. There are still unmet needs in the NFI and shelter sectors for several hundred asylum-seeking families and their host families.

To improve access to drinking water and sanitation in Bedaka, humanitarian actors have rehabilitated 16 boreholes, built latrines and showers, distributed water purifiers and hygiene kits, and conducted awareness-raising activities for communities on good hygiene and sanitation practices. In six other villages, water facilities need rehabilitation. In addition to repairing water points in host villages, six wells with water towers are also operational at the Betoko site. Humanitarian partners have also provided health centers in Begouladje, Bedaya, Bedam, Betoko and Markounda with medicines and medical equipment to treat asylum-seekers free of charge, including for malnutrition. Among other things, this support helped vaccinating through mobile clinics children under five. In this region, this age group was not vaccinated in 40 per cent of households. It has also helped to contain the peaks in malaria cases typical of the rainy season (April-October), through the distribution of insecticide-impregnated mosquito nets.

In March 2024, humanitarian partners had already built 1,250 shelters, 800 of which are currently occupied by 800 families, while 450 others are awaiting the arrival of new asylum seekers from Markounda and the areas north of Paoua. Additionally, 14 blocks of latrines and showers are operational at the Betoko site.

There are still unmet needs in emergency education, as six schools are non-functional, and those that are functional have low intake capacity. Asylum-seeking children have fallen behind in their education during their flight. Several children need to be reintegrated into school. Among them, 510 children are enrolled in primary and middle schools in Betoko. Registrations continue as households arrive at the Betoko site.

To respond to cases of gender-based violence, particularly rape, humanitarian actors are raising awareness of prevention among asylum-seekers and host communities, supporting referral of survivors to dedicated care facilities and distributing dignity kits. Most asylum-seekers, including children, have no civil documentation, and humanitarian actors plan to provide necessary support. The implementation of community-based protection mechanisms is also one of the protection needs to be addressed.

The humanitarian community aims to provide vital multisectoral assistance to 1.9 million of the most vulnerable Central Africans and calls for the mobilization of US$ 367.7 million, in a global context of decreasing humanitarian funding. The capacity to absorb additional needs is very limited.

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Batangafo in the Ouham Prefecture in the west of the country, have just spent 10 years at dedicated sites. Despite a voluntary return process for households originating from Batangafo center and the Bouca axis, 901 households of 3,656[i] displaced persons still remain at these sites. The latter had been created in 2014 at the height of the Central African conflict, to host the population of Batangafo and neighboring villages seeking refuge. With this extended stay at IDP sites, some of them are calling for assistance to return to their place of origin and resume a normal life, but the decision is not easily coming. Due to insecurity, one in five Central Africans is currently internally displaced or has found refuge abroad, mainly in neighbouring countries.

Violence against civilians and insecurity outside urban centers continue to impact the well-being of several million Central Africans, who see their livelihoods deteriorate and their access to food, drinking water and many other basic services, including healthcare, drastically limited. 2.8 million people - or 46 per cent of the population - will be extremely vulnerable in 2024, to the extent that humanitarian assistance alone will not be sufficient for their well-being.

Born and raised in a site for internally displaced persons.

Reine Koutigué celebrated her tenth birthday, at the same time as the Baga site in Batangafo where she was born and still lives. Thanks to humanitarian actors’ support at the Batangafo hospital, Reine's mother was able to receive the care she needed from the antenatal period through delivery. But on her birthday, she did not blow out candles like other children, or did receive best wishes messages. Unfortunately, it was just another day like any other, punctuated with promiscuity that is destabilizing for a child of her age. The little girl has never lived in a traditional habitat, such as the village where her parents' home was located.

Currently in 4th grade, Reine dreams of a career in health care to look after her brothers and sisters. "I don't want my brothers to die. I'm going to look after them when I grow up. That's why I'd like to work in a hospital," she said. Like Reine, many other children were born and are now growing up in the Baga site. According to testimonies, some of these children do not act like those born in a traditional habitat and behave somewhat differently.

"I sometimes find him lonely, sometimes aggressive, and I think this could be linked to the environment in which he's growing up", explained Emmanuel Mokpême, father of little Edouard, who like Reine will celebrate his tenth birthday soon. The youngster dreams of becoming a teacher, but his father has some doubts about his child's ability to concentrate compared to other children born and raised in a classic village. "It's the lack of landmarks, of games, of role models, of a normal day-to-day life that's doing all this," added Emmanuel, who would like to see his son grow up out of the IDP site.

Plans to return tested by resources and insecurity.

The decision to return is not without its difficulties for IDPs. Following improvement in the security situation, some IDPs decide to return to their villages, but need resources to resettle. During displacement, homes are either dilapidated or looted and sometimes burnt down by parties to the conflict. In other situations, IDPs have to choose between staying at the sites, returning to their places of origin because they are tired of living in precarious conditions, even if security conditions are not very reassuring, or staying at the sites because they have nothing left in their places of origin. "We no longer have a house. We came from the town of Bouca, 90 km from Batangafo. 

And going back is no longer possible because of insecurity," said Sabé Isaï, who has been living on the Baga IDP site for almost 10 years. In August 2023, around 489,000 IDPs were registered in the Central African Republic (CAR). 120,500 are living in sites, and 368,300 are staying in host families. A total of 227,000 people have returned to their villages in the last 12 months, mainly as a result of improved security situation.

Adapting the humanitarian response

Based on specificities of each region, the humanitarian community implements emergency assistance and/or support for the voluntary return of IDPs, in partnership with other actors. The humanitarian situation in the CAR is volatile, and regions once considered stable can suddenly shift into humanitarian emergency zones. Humanitarian actors are adapting their response based on this context, and are collaborating with other actors, notably on programs to support voluntary return.

Support for voluntary returns is one of the four axes of the intervention strategy of the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan. In 2023, humanitarian actors facilitated the voluntary return of over 1,220 households, comprising 4,467 displaced persons, to Batangafo center, notably by providing transitional shelters, rehabilitating water, hygiene and sanitation facilities, supplying essential household items and supporting income-generating activities for returning households. Alongside the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), the Humanitarian Fund for CAR is one of the key donors for this vital initial support for returnees. To date, it has disbursed over US$ 2.6 million. Once resettled, returnees have other needs for which emergency assistance is no longer adapted, requiring intervention of other types of actors, notably to rebuild basic social services.

[i] Report of the Population Movement Commission (PMC) of March 2024

Even if this Friday afternoon, marked by children playing in the street, street vendors and the horns of motorbike taxis looking for passengers seems quite ordinary for many Bangassou residents, it is not the case for Hawa Abakar. At 36 with a slim figure and a pensive face, she’s undoubtely wondering when will her journey end in this town where she found refuge.

Hawa and her family were forced to leave their home in Zemio, 250 km from Bangassou in the south-east of the Central African Republic, following an attack on the town by armed groups a year ago, and found refuge in Bangassou in the Mbomou Prefecture.

"To increase our chances of survival, my husband and I separated, each going in the opposite way with two of our children as we have four. My husband headed to the Democratic Republic of Congo border area and I went to Bangassou. It was the most painful time of my life because I didn't know if my husband and our two children who left with him had survived" she says.

Each year, violence against civilians forces thousands of Central Africans fearing for their lives to displacement to survive the conflict that continues to devastate the country, particularly in rural areas. One in five Central Africans is currently either an internally displaced person (IDP) or a refugee in neighboring countries.

In 2022, almost three-quarters of the IDPs were living with host families. This was the case for Hawa, who on her arrival in Bangassou was welcomed by Kadidia, a former IDP she met in the town's mosque. "Kadidia became our family. She welcomed me and my children and shares what she has with us. We are fed and housed," explains Hawa.

Crucial solidarity

As soon as they arrive in the host city, IDPs face many needs, including shelter, food, water, hygiene and sanitation. Very often, host communities provide initial life-saving assistance before a need assessment is carried out and an appropriate response provided by humanitarian actors. It sometimes multiplies vulnerabilities as the host family's resources are stretched by the now large number of people in the household.

Thanks to their determination after spending three months together, the two women managed to contact Hawa's husband and their two other children who found refuge in the Democratic Republic of Congo. "I was internally displaced from 2017 to 2020 after our town was attacked by armed groups. I know what it is like to lose loved ones, your home and to live in fear. Thanks God, I had benefited from humanitarian assistance. It is now my duty to help other people in a similar situation," says Kadidia.

Hawa did not only benefit from housing or food that Kadidia generously shared with her and her two children. "Kadidia taught me how to bake biscuits and once things calm down at home in Zemio, this will allow me to get ahead financially and take care of my children," explains Hawa.

Kadidia learned to make the biscuits as part of a programme to support the return of IDPs developed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 2021. These organizations had also built houses for former refugees and IDPs wishing to resettle in Bangassou after calm had returned to the town.

A coordinated and inclusive humanitarian response

In order to meet IDPs needs and to support host families whose resources are diminished by the presence of additional people in their homes, the humanitarian response also takes into account host communities’ needs.

To date, humanitarian community in partnership with development actors have supported the return of more than 14,000 people to the Mbomou Prefecture, particularly in Rafai and Bakouma. This included activities such as the construction of houses, water boreholes, trainings in income-generating activities and livelihood support.