Central African Republic

The Central African Republic remains one of the most fragile countries in the world, ranked 188 out of 189 by the Human Development Index.

In 2023, 3.4 million people - 55% of the population - need humanitarian assistance and protection, a level not seen in more than six years (Humanitarian Needs Overview 2023), including 2 million people who are in a critical situation due to the deep and complex crisis that the country continues to face.

Now, a decade after the 2013 crisis, the country has still not been able to enjoy the dividends of peace. The conflict lingers on and prevents the development of the country. Three quarters of the population lives under the poverty line.

They also face a food security and nutrition crisis. The Global Hunger Index ranked CAR 120th out of 121 countries in 2022, a situation classified as “alarming”, with indicators such as child mortality, undernourishment rate and child stunting being among the highest in the world. 

Concern has been alleviating poverty in CAR since 2014, following the outbreak of the civil war in 2013, and now works in two areas and four prefectures: the South West (Ombella M’Poko and Lobaye prefectures) and the South East (Ouaka and Basse-Kotto prefectures).

Programmes are designed to be multisectoral and work on several leverages of poverty at the same time.

Hence, in 2022, we reached approximately 110,000 people with integrated livelihoods, health and nutrition, WASH, conflict resolution and gender equality activities, helping to increase their resilience to shocks and stresses. 

In addition, Concern implements several transversal strategies, such as the gender strategy to foster gender equality at all levels. They echo Concern’s commitment to key principles of humanitarian action, such as local ownership and sustainability and the do no harm principle.

For example, in 2022, Concern started a partnership with a national NGO in gender-based violence (GBV) activities in the South-East. This partnership involves capacity sharing and additional economic spillovers for the local economy.

Concern continues to play an active role in the various humanitarian coordination mechanisms, including a co-lead position in the Cash Working Group. As a result of strong advocacy, continuous visibility at the Cluster level, and a strong Gender vision for its programmes, Concern became the lead agency to chair the menstrual hygiene working group.

Concern is also on the Executive Committee of the INGO forum (CCO) which gives access to a rotating seat on the Humanitarian Country Team.