Attachments
Highlights
• Violent fighting between armed groups around the town of Paoua in the north of the country led to the displacement of more than 60,000 people at the end of January. The humanitarian community is implementing a holistic emergency response and is calling for emergency funds;
• The UNICEF Child Protection response remains underfunded with only 11% of humanitarian funding needs for 2018 met as end of January 2018. This situation jeopardizes UNICEF’s capacity to meet the needs of 100,000 affected children with essential psychosocial support;
• Half of schools of the prefectures of Ouham, Ouham - Pende, Nana Gribizi, Mbomou and Haut Mbomou are destroyed, damaged or occupied by displaced families, denying education for 170,100 children.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
The humanitarian situation remains worrying. The number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) increased by 72% since January 2017 (from 402,240 IDPs in January 2017 to 693,932 in January 2018) according to OCHA. In Kaga-Bandoro and Bria, dry-season fires destroyed shelters of the most vulnerable persons in IDP sites. In addition, persistent conflicts between armed groups, coupled with the increased criminality notably targeting humanitarian workers in the country (e.g. Paoua, Kambakota, Ngaoundaye, Ndim, Bria, Alindao, Bambari), led to an increase in humanitarian need and the worsening of conditions for humanitarian access.
Due to clashes between armed groups in and outside Paoua in December 2017, around 12,506 households (60,000 people) have been forced to flee and find protection in Paoua throughout January. Some of these IDPs are currently hosted by local families, while others have moved and gathered in several locations in Paoua. The humanitarian community is mobilized to provide multi-sectoral assistance to the most vulnerable people in Paoua, including the IDPs and the host population. Due to insecurity on the main axes around Paoua, humanitarian access remains limited.
In Bria, the protection of civilians remains a challenge in the town and along the axes. Ongoing tensions inside the city and fighting on the Bria-Yalinga axis remain high. The lack of access in this area is a serious problem for the protection monitoring.