Stabilization: managing different humanitarian cycles within the same country

As stabilization goes on in North-Western CAR, the situation in the South-East has been deteriorating, namely because of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) incursions, leading to a rising number of displaced persons and refugees. Since the peace treaties in 2008, ACTED has been striving to support early recovery within the country. In 2010, ACTED’s strategy evolved; it now focuses on an economic revival, with road rehabilitation leading to better access for humanitarian actors, and a rapid response to population movements.

Opening up to enhance humanitarian access and economic development

Returnee movements in the North and the trouble landlocked provinces are experiencing are equally strong issues for the economic development of the Central African Republic. Ranking at 159 out of 182 countries on the 2010 Humanitarian Development Index, CAR is a highly vulnerable country where more than 86 % of the population suffers from multi-dimensional poverty, dropping the country to the rank of 3rd poorest country in the world. Commerce and demand are weak, due to the obsolescence of market infrastructures. The country’s landlocked situation makes the shipping of essential goods difficult.

Faced with such issues, ACTED has developed many infrastructure projects, covering roads, engineering structures, ferry boats and markets, aimed at revitalizing commerce and injecting cash-flow through a labor-intensive work approach. At the same time, ACTED has led emergency rehabilitation aimed at opening humanitarian access to new crisis areas, namely in the South-East.

In 2010, 87 kilometers and 12 structures were built, allowing the country to open up. At the same time, ACTED supported 27 community-based organizations in revitalizing the social fabric and developed early recovery humanitarian advocacy, mainly through acclaimed cartography work.

The stakes of a rapid response to the basic needs of displaced populations

Set in South-Eastern CAR, the Haut Mbomou prefecture is faced with rising poverty. Before the LRA incursions, the region was left aside by local authorities due to its isolation. Driven out of DRC, Joseph Koni’s units moved to CAR and are constantly moving around the Eastern part of the country. Villages have since been attacked, killings and destruction of goods and fields, and kidnappings have also occurred. Villagers moved massively to cities considered more secure such as Mboki and Zemio, under the protection of the Central African Armed Forces (FACA).

The number of displaced persons and refugees rose exponentially in 2010, from 162,284 to 192,000 IDPs, and from 10,257 to 24,690 refugees. Such mass displacement has increased the vulnerability of populations. In response, ACTED developed food security, health promotion and non-food item supply programs aimed at covering vital needs and responding to pendular population movements.

Developing the link between relief, rehabilitation and development (LRRD)

ACTED is enforcing LRRD, as it upholds interventions in the North-West and South-East portions of the country, while opening a new area of intervention in the South-West.

Therefore, the West is hosting the implementation of agricultural, commercial and educational infrastructure development programs. In the South-East, ACTED is working on helping displaced, refugee and host populations stand alone and gradually recover through mid-term food security interventions.

At the same time, ACTED is consolidating humanitarian advocacy efforts, notably in promoting an integrated multi-sector intervention aimed at revitalizing agricultural and commercial channels, and developing community-based organizations and participative local governance.