GENEVA– There has been a 70 percent increase in the number of people displaced in Bangui from 214,000 on 17 December to 370,000 today, Spokesperson and Public Information Officer for OCHA said.
A total of 785,000 people have been displaced in the Central African Republic and some 2.2 million people need assistance, the UN said on Tuesday.
“The security situation the Central African Republic remains tense and has trigged a new wave of displacement in the capital, Bangui. There has been a 70 percent increase in the number of people displaced in Bangui from 214,000 on 17 December to 370,000 today,” Jens Laerke, Spokesperson and Public Information Officer for the UN Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva said on Tuesday in a statement.
Laerke noted that despite the insecurity and access constraints, aid organizations were reaching as many people as possible with assistance. The World Food Programme has distributed 555 tons of food to more than 133 thousand people in Bangui this month. It has also reached over 41,500 people in Bossangoa and 21,500 people in Bouar.
“At the international airport in Bangui, where agencies estimate that between 70 thousand and 100 thousand people have sought refuge, humanitarian partners are trying to reach people with emergency assistance including medical care and malnutrition screening for children,” Laerke said.
“UNICEF is working with its partners to establish mobile child protection activities. A comprehensive humanitarian assessment is being planned at the site to further develop a coordinated response,” Laerke added.
– US $152 million needed for the first three months of 2014
To scale up the life-saving humanitarian response, organizations working within the framework of the Strategic Response Plan for 2014 – coordinated by OCHA – have redefined their priorities in a 100-day intervention plan, Laerke explained.
This plan requests some US$152 million for the first three months of 2014 alone.
