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About the Crisis in The Central African Republic
The Central African Republic is a landlocked country in the heart of Africa that consistently ranks as one of the poorest and most fragile countries in the world. The country has struggled with armed conflict and instability for several years.
In 2013, an outbreak of violence between armed groups forced more than 640,000 people to flee the country in search of safety, and an additional 630,000 were internally displaced. The majority of those who fled the country sought refuge in neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of the Congo, with smaller numbers in Sudan and South Sudan.
Today, the Central African Republic continues to experience sporadic surges of violence. The most recent occurrence was in December 2020, after a troubled election displaced more than 200,000 people in less than two months. These recent displacements bring the number of displaced Central Africans to over 1.9 million, representing over a third of the country’s total population. In 2022, an estimated 3.1 million people will need humanitarian assistance, accounting for 63% of the population.
The continued volatility and violence has also led to worsening gender-based violence (GBV) across the country. In the first half of 2021, over 6,330 GBV cases were reported, and sexual violence made up a fourth of all cases. Currently, sexual violence poses the greatest security risk to women and girls, especially IDPs.
