The UN Refugee Agency urgently appealed to the international community to mobilize resources for the protection of the displaced Central Africans and their hosts, the UNHCR said.
The UNHCR spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov held a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva today. In the statement, the UN body said is has today launched a US$164 million appeal to provide life-saving assistance and protection to nearly 1.5 million uprooted Central Africans.
Unless funding is swiftly made available, the Un humanitarian body will be forced to reduce or halt vital assistance, even as the needs are rising.
After one year of coronacrisis, some 100,000 African people have been displaced inside CAR, while neighbouring Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the Congo have received 111,000 new arrivals. Refugees flow is getting stronger day by day.
To enable UNHCR’s targeted and timely protection and assistance to the displaced Central Africans and their hosts, and to ensure our support to governments and other partners, we require urgent financial contributions.
The UNHCR appeal includes:
- US$35.2 million to address the ongoing protection crisis and to help us support the most vulnerable children and families, to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, and for monitoring, registration, and documentation.
- US$13.7 million to supply shelter and essential relief to the displaced living in dire conditions inside CAR and in neighbouring countries, and who now depend on the generosity of local host communities.
- US$27.8 million for health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, needed to prevent the spread of disease. These needs are compounded by the looming threat of COVID-19.
Funds for UNHCR’s humanitarian response to support displaced Central Africans are already critically low and under severe pressure due to the rising needs of both refugees and the host communities.
