UK warns more must be done to alleviate humanitarian crisis in CAR
2 Apr 2014 12:34 PM
Britain provides seeds, farming tools and
protection for people affected by the crisis.
The
international community must commit more support to the worsening situation in
the Central African Republic, UK International Development Minister Lynne
Featherstone has urged as Britain provides seeds, farming tools and protection
for people affected by the crisis.
The
UK’s extra support comes ahead of donors discussing the conflict and
humanitarian crisis at the EU-Africa Summit in Brussels on 2-4
April.
Lynne Featherstone, International Development Minister
said:
“The situation in the Central African Republic is
growing ever more desperate, and the international community must do more to
help the men, women and children affected.
“Britain is taking a leading role and we have just
pledged further lifesaving aid. Working with key partners like France, we will
not look the other way while millions of vulnerable people
suffer.”
The
new £6 million of funding brings the UK’s total direct contribution
to £18 million in 2014, additional to funds already committed through the
EU and UN, and will help:
-
Address the hunger crisis by giving the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) £4 million for seeds and tools to boost agricultural
production across the country during the important planting season between
March and May.
-
Protect vulnerable people by giving the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)£2 million to track and
report back on the communities at imminent risk of violence and exploitation,
including protecting women and girls from sexual violence.
Despite pledges of €150 million in humanitarian aid
and €200 million for development and stabilisation, only 22 per cent of
the CAR appeal is funded, according to United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Since December 2013, at least 2,000 people have been
killed in CAR. Over 900,000 Central Africans have fled their homes as a result
of this crisis with an estimated 600,000 people displaced across the
country.
A
further 300,000 people have fled as refugees to the neighbouring countries of
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Chad, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, South
Sudan and Sudan.
Cameroon is coping with the largest influx of people
with 145,000 having crossed the border. Chad has received over 83,000 refugees
and over 62,000 have crossed to the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC).
Notes to editors
- The
UK has been one of the largest humanitarian donors responding to the situation
in CAR in the last year. The British Government has committed £23 million
directly since July 2013.
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