UNFPA Provides Support for Women and Girls as Humanitarian Situation Deteriorates in Central African Republic

BANGUI, Central African Republic – As the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate in the Central African Republic (CAR), UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is providing emergency assistance for women and girls of childbearing age affected by the fighting.

To meet the urgent needs of pregnant women and young people affected by the crisis, UNFPA is distributing thousands of dignity kits, clean delivery kits, and other reproductive health and life-saving supplies. To date, 69 health centres, as well as all displaced persons camps in the capital Bangui, have been provided with various kits, and 20 national and international NGOs have been contracted to support critical UNFPA programmes through the end of the year.

This latest surge in violence has brought the total number of people displaced since the conflict began a year ago to more than 700,000, according to December 17 estimates by OCHA. This includes approximately 214,000 since 5 December in Bangui alone. Among them, according to estimates in the country, 25 per cent are women of childbearing age. Most of the displaced population has gathered in more than 50 sites across the capital to seek shelter, principally at different religious sites and at the Bangui International Airport. These estimates are expected to change as the situation on the ground evolves.

UNFPA will continue to work jointly with the rest of the UN system to provide needed support, focusing on addressing the needs of the affected population, particularly women and young girls, and mitigating the impact of gender-based violence.

Safe birth kits can mean the difference between life and death for a pregnant woman and her baby in a crisis situation. 

– Reported by Nicole Foster