The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says three million children in the Central African Republic (CAR) face the highest recorded level of overlapping and interrelated crises and deprivation in the world. The UN agency warned on Tuesday that ten years of protracted conflict and instability in the Central African country had rendered children invisible and at risk of being completely forgotten by international donors, the global media and the public.
"The Central African Republic now holds the tragic distinction of being ranked first among 191 countries as the most at-risk for humanitarian crises and disaster. This dire status underscores the severe and urgent challenges faced by its youngest citizens," said Meritxell RelaƱo Arana, UNICEF Representative in CAR, briefing reporters in Geneva on Tuesday.
āTen years of protracted conflict and instability in CAR has left every single one of CARās three million children at risk,ā she added.
One in two children had no access to health services, and only one-third of children attended school regularly, the UNICEF official pointed out. Nearly two out of three young women were married before the age of 18.
Responding to questions, RelaƱo stated that while 40 percent of children in CAR experienced chronic malnutrition, 5.5 percent suffered from severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
She warned that these children would die if they were not treated. Preventing malnutrition required sustained investment in social protection, overcoming food insecurity and investing in society to prevent such cases.
āWeakened institutions and the constant threat of violence compound the multiple risks to the rights of children. The fact that the crisis in CAR has been stretched out over so many years ā and that, sadly, so many other global crises continue to unfold in parallel - means that the children of CAR have become painfully invisible. But their pain and loss are profoundly evident,ā she said.
But there was hope. Now was the time for the international community to rally around a change of course for the children of the Central African Republic.
āThe governmentās new National Development Plan, alongside other major commitments to improve childrenās rights, mean UNICEF and its partners have a viable mechanism to push for a change of course: to chart a new future for the children and the country,ā RelaƱo said.
In the midst of this rare moment of opportunity, the greatest risk was that those on whom the children relied - international donors, the global media and an informed public - would turn their backs in the face of simultaneous global crises.
āIn my most clear and candid language: this will mean many children will unnecessarily die; many more will see their futures destroyed. A child is a child, and, as such, it is imperative that the international community does not forget the children of CAR,ā the UNICEF official added.
In 2024, the country's population is estimated to be around 6.1 million, with half of the population under the age of 18. The Central African Republic is one of the poorest and least developed nations in the world.
CAR has one of the lowest life expectancies at just 54 years, and infant mortality rates are among the highest on the planet. In 2023, approximately seven in ten Central Africans lived below the poverty line on less than $2.15 a day, making the Central African Republic one of the ten poorest countries in the world.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the CAR Ministry of Health, less than half of the country's health facilities are fully operational, and there are 0.6 doctors for every 10,000 people - one of the lowest ratios in the world.
CAR has been among the world's most neglected humanitarian crises for several years in a row. The country has been plagued by violent unrest since 2012. Nearly half of the population - 46 percent - is in need of humanitarian assistance in 2024.
According to CARE International, the situation in the Central African Republic is one of the world's forgotten crises that received the least media attention last year. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) identified the situation in CAR as one of the world's most neglected displacement crises in 2023.
While insecurity and violence against civilians continue to force Central Africans to flee their homes, humanitarian and development actors are helping many internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees resume normal lives after several years of displacement.
The total number of displaced people now stands at more than 1.25 million, with more than 750,000 refugees having fled to neighboring countries and some 500,000 people internally displaced. With one-fifth of its population forced to flee, the Central African Republic is the country with the third-highest proportion of forced displacement in Africa, after South Sudan and Sudan. Most refugees have fled to Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
With 40 percent of the population lacking sufficient food, CAR has one of the highest proportions of critically food-insecure people in the world. Approximately 2.5 million people will experience crisis levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or worse) between April and August 2024. An estimated 508,000 people will face emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4) across the country.
People in IPC Phase 4 require immediate action to save lives, protect livelihoods and reduce food consumption gaps. Widespread displacement and armed conflict are the main drivers of hunger, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
In 2024, there are 2.8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection in the country, according to this year's Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). The Central African Republic 2024 HRP requests US$367.7 million to support 1.9 million of the most vulnerable people this year. As of July 2, the plan is only 32 percent funded.