CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Information Bulletin No. 182 8 November – 22 November 2011

damaged during the clashes which occurred in Bria in mid September. HIGHLIGHTS "In many parts of the city, the damage is considerable, • Two soldiers are killed in Danga over 700 houses lie in ruins," said Céline Buvelot, an • Radhika Coomaraswamy visits the CAR ICRC delegate working in the area. • Logistics cluster "Most residents had to flee the fighting as quickly as possible, and left practically all their belongings behind. Background and security Many were taken in by families in neighborhoods that were less affected, but some had no choice but to seek Two soldiers are killed in Danga refuge in the bush. Their situation is very difficult. We provided them with supplies to meet their most urgent On 9 November, a group of unidentified gunmen attacked needs." and killed two soldiers in Danga (South West), a village situated along the Ubangui River 30 kilometres from In partnership with the Central African Red Cross Bangui, and facing the DRC. Soldiers of the Central Society, the ICRC distributed such essential items as African Republic (CAR) naval force were on duty at a tarpaulins, blankets, sleeping mats, basins, soap, checkpoint when they were attacked. Although the jerrycans and kitchen utensils. In addition, after having Ministry of Defence confirms this incident, the reason for chlorinated some 50 wells, the ICRC is now repairing the attack remains unknown. seven water pumps in the area of Bria that was the most affected. The north-east of the CAR has been the scene Confrontation between the police and local vendors of sporadic violence between armed groups for several On 15 November, there was a confrontation between months. As a result, several thousands of civilians have police officers and local vendors in PK5, Bangui. This been displaced and many houses and even entire resulted from a forced eviction attempt on people selling villages have been destroyed. goods along the road. Gunshots were fired leading to the "Unfortunately, during these hostilities there has been death of 2 people and 6 wounded. Mediation was held little regard for the physical well-being and the property of between the Minister of Territorial Administration, the civilians. We remind all parties concerned of their Mayor and representatives of the vendors. obligation to spare civilians at all times," said Katharina Humanitarian / Development activities Ritz, Head of the ICRC delegation in the CAR. Update on WFP’s activities Throughout the year, the ICRC has endeavoured to protect and assist people adversely affected by armed During the month of October, the World Food Programme conflict in areas of the north-eastern region of the CAR (WFP) distributed a one-month ration of 43 MT of mixed such as Tiringoulou, Ndélé and Akoursoulbak, as well as food commodities to 2,603 internally displaced people Bria. (IDPs) in Bria (Haute Kotto prefecture, North East). In November, WFP distributed a two-month food ration of For more information, contact Perry Proellochs: 106 MT to 3,311 IDPs from Bria who fled violence and [email protected] . sought refuge in Bambari (Ouaka prefecture, Centre). Radhika Coomaraswamy visits the CAR Some 1,026 IDPs from Bria who moved to Ippy (Ouaka) received 33 MT of food. The UN Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG), for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika The food basket consists of fortified maizemeal, yellow Coomaraswamy visited the CAR from 16 to 21 split peas, corn-soya blend (CSB), palm oil, salt and November. The purpose of her mission was to assess the sugar. The clashes between the Convention des situation of children, violations committed by the Lord's Patriotes pour la Justice et la Paix (CPJP) and the Union Resistance Army (LRA) and to sign an action plan for des Forces Démocratiques pour le Rassemblement the release of child soldiers with the CPJP. (UFDR) in the Haute Kotto prefecture in September, led to a massive displacement of populations. On 20 November, the SRSG Coomaraswamy witnessed the signing of the action plan in N'Délé (Centre North) by For more information, contact Susan Bounford: the UN SRSG in the CAR, Margaret Vogt and the [email protected] . Representative of the United Nations Children's Fund The ICRC assists the population of Bria (UNICEF) in the CAR, Tanya Chapuisat with the CPJP President, Abdoulaye Hissène. On 8, 9 and 10 November, the International Committee of “There is a momentum gathering in the CAR for the the Red Cross (ICRC) provided aid to about 1,000 release of children from armed groups. Today’s signing families whose houses were destroyed or seriously follows the recent signature of an action plan by the

This report is produced by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in collaboration with the 1 Humanitarian Development Partnership Team (HDPT). For more information, pleasevisithttp://hdptcar.net . HDPT CAR Information Bulletin

Armée Populaire pour la Restauration de la Démocratie members in responding to the nutritional needs of (APRD)…The Union des Forces Démocratiques pour le affected populations during emergencies. Participants Rassemblement (UFDR) committed to United Nations consisted of: national counterparts, national and verification of the presence of children in their ranks,” international NGOs and UN agencies. said SRSG Coomaraswamy. Contact Elisabeth Zanou: [email protected] for more information. Logistics cluster

The Logistics cluster aims to improve humanitarian access to beneficiaries and to facilitate transportation of humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable groups in society. The cluster also assists in strengthening the logistical capacity of the humanitarian community in the CAR by providing them with a storage capacity of 11,000 MT. Logistics Cluster achievements 2010-2011 : • A fleet of 22 trucks with a capacity of 10MT each and prepositioned as follows: 14 in Bangui, 2 in Kaga- Bandoro (North West), 2 in Paoua (North West) and Signing of the action plan:SSRG Coomaraswamy on the left, the Prefet of N’délé in the centre, CPJP President on the right. Picture: F.Bitemo 4 in Bambari (South East) ; • A garage in Bangui. The main garage users consist “The signing of the action plan is critical because children of: WFP, the United Nations Humanitarian Air should have never been implicated in the conflict in the Service (UNHAS) and the United Nations Food and first place. Now we have to ensure that we get these Agriculture Organization (FAO). children separated and reintegrated” said SRSG Vogt. Challenges : “With these new commitments…, swift follow-up is • Insecurity in conflict affected zones has a negative imperative to release children amongst their ranks and impact on logistical operations with regards to the ensure programmes are in place for their rehabilitation timely delivery of aid to beneficiaries; • and reintegration. To achieve this, an immediate injection The transportation market in the country remains limited and trucks are often in poor condition; of new funds is required,” said UNICEF Representative, • The deterioration of roads and bridges renders Tanya Chapuisat. access difficult particularly during the rainy season; • SRSG Coomaraswamy also visited the LRA-affected Lack of carriers in the sub-offices to ensure the distribution of food and non-food items to area of Obo (South East) to speak to child victims and beneficiaries. local authorities. Children who have been associated with armed groups experience unspeakable atrocities, often Prospects : for long periods of time, and require specialized • The purchase order of tools and spare parts funded programmes to rehabilitate and re-integrate them back through the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for an amount of US $ 200,000 will be into society. received by the end of the year; While meeting with government officials, SRSG • The recruitment of three engineers and assistant Coomaraswamy emphasized the need to establish, to engineers to strengthen the garage team in order to meet the demands of partners; provide social services and to ensure the protection of • The recruitment of an International logistics specialist children at the community level. During her meeting with is in progress; the Speaker of the National Assembly, she encouraged • Strengthen the capacity of staff in sub-offices the ratification of the Optional Protocols to the through an online Fleet Management course. Convention of the Rights of the Child, and was informed that this would be completed before the end of the year. Contact Mohamed Cherfi: [email protected] for more information. Contact Timothy La Rose: [email protected] for more information. For more information or to contribute to this bulletin, please contact: Coordination

Capacity building for nutrition cluster members OCHA Bangui, CAR Laura Fultang , Information & Donor Liaison Officer From 14 to 18 November, UNICEF which leads the [email protected] +236 70 18 80 64 Nutrition cluster organized a workshop for its members; based on the following theme: "Nutrition in emergency Gisèle Willybiro -Maïdou, Information Assistant situations". The objective of this training was to [email protected] +236 70 18 80 61 strengthen the capacity and knowledge of cluster

This report is produced by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in collaboration with the 2 Humanitarian Development Partnership Team (HDPT). For more information, pleasevisithttp://hdptcar.net .