Â鶹ÊÓƵ

¡°The humanitarian situation in Zemio is perilous and can quickly descend into a catastrophe, if we do not act now,¡± said Gian Carlo Cirri, Â鶹ÊÓƵ Representative and Country Director in C.A.R. ¡°Partners on the ground say women and children do not have enough food to eat and people are living in dire conditions.¡±

A spike in violence in and around Zemio has curtailed movement, with people unable to access markets. Most have lost their food reserves due to the inability to reach their farms because of violence. 

The airlift is the first step of a more comprehensive plan to address the humanitarian situation in the south-east of the country. Â鶹ÊÓƵ will provide food to internally displaced people (IDPs) and the hosts who have been sheltering them.  Specialised nutritious food will be distributed to families with young children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ normally moves supplies into Zemio via Obo by land from neighbouring Uganda and by river from the capital Bangui via Bangassou, but a broken bridge and an out-of-service ferries have made this impossible.  Â鶹ÊÓƵ is looking into alternative options to move food by river while engineers from the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSCA) are working to repair the ferry.  

Long-running conflict is having devastating effects on people in the C.A.R. Up to 2.1 million people, almost half of the country¡¯s 4.7 million population, are food insecure according the National Food Security Assessment (NFSA) released last January.  A recent national nutritional survey (SMART) also shows 7.1 percent of global acute malnutrition (GAM) among children aged 6 to 59 months. The severe acute malnutrition (SAM) exceeds the 2 percent emergency threshold at national level and in ten prefectures out of sixteen.

The Government of C.A.R. and 14 non-state armed groups signed a peace agreement on 6 February under the auspices of the African Union with the support of the United Nations.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ needs US$ 87 million to provide lifesaving assistance through general food distribution, cash transfers, and enhanced nutrition programmes to around one million people in 2019.

#   #  #

The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ - saving lives in emergencies and changing lives for millions through sustainable development. Â鶹ÊÓƵ works in more than 80 countries around the world, feeding people caught in conflict and disasters, and laying the foundations for a better future.

Follow us on Twitter @wfp_media @wfp_WAfrica