© Juan Vrijdag/drr.net
A young man walking with firewood on his head and a manioc root on the road between Bangui and Bossembele. Due the lack of transport, people have to walk long distances with all kind of goods and necessities.
In September 2007, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution to dispatch an advance mission to Chad and the Central African Republic. In the report, the Secretary-General said there was evidently a need to address the rapidly deteriorating security situation and to protect civilians in the border areas. The situation in eastern Chad and the north-eastern Central African Republic, however, is “extremely fluid”, with ongoing hostilities between the respective Governments and rebel groups, especially in Chad. There are, at present, only limited prospects for a meaningful dialogue and reconciliation process between the Governments and the rebels in the two countries. Similarly, there are so far no signs of a credible and inclusive political process in Darfur.
DRR Member Juan Vridjag has been documenting the lives and hardships evident in this part of the world. To see more of his work, please visit Marketplace.
Juan provides extensive caption information for each image. Read more in the link below.
Situated in the very middle of Africa, the Central African Republic (CAR) is landlocked between Chad, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo and Cameroon. Roughly the size of France or Texas, the country has endured several coup d’etats since its independence from France in 1960. While the CAR is rich in natural resources, its people are among the poorest in the world.
The Central African Republic ranks 172nd out of 177 countries on the UNDP Human Development Index, almost no country in the world has a higher share of people living under $1 a day (67 percent of the population). Average life expectancy in the CAR is lower than in 95% of the world’s countries. One in five children do not live to their fifth birthday. 106 out of 1,000 children die in infancy, more than in almost any other country. Across the country, a third of the population completely lack access to clean water and sanitation facilities. As a result preventable diseases are easily spread. 38% of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition. Net primary school enrollment is among the lowest in the world.
Since September 2005, the insurgency in the northern prefectures has aggravated the humanitarian situation in the country. It is causing massive displacement of the civilian population, which faces violence committed not only by armed gangs, road-blockers and rebels, but also by governmental forces, which have tended to view the local population as sympathizers to the rebels. Diplomats in Bangui say the government army has full control of as little as 2 percent of the country. As a result, an estimated 291,000 Central Africans have been forced to flee their homes: 212,000 have been internally displaced, and some 79,000 fled into neighboring Chad, Cameroon and Sudan.
In total, more than one million Central Africans are now in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. The ongoing insecurity, deep-rooted poverty combined with harsh environmental conditions, minimal infrastructure and the near absence of basic services outside the capital and major regional towns all contribute to the Central African Republic’s chronic underdevelopment. Nonetheless, the international response to the precarious humanitarian situation in the country has so far not addressed the needs. One million people have already been affected by the violence.
Unlike the suffering of its neighbors, the crisis in the Central African Republic has largely escaped the world’s notice. International donors pay about $1 billion to support the effort to feed and shelter two million displaced people in Darfur. Here that figure is about $50 million, United Nations officials say.
Like so many countries in Africa, the Central African Republic has the potential of vast wealth with the exploitation of diamonds, timber, hydroelectric power and commercial farming. But over the years its economy has shriveled. A decade ago there were more than 200 private companies working here, according to the World Bank. Today, only about 20 remain. In the past decade, disease and hunger have slashed life expectancy by 10 years, to about 40. “Outside of a famine situation I have never seen people in such terrible shape,” said Jean-Pierre Cebron, the top official for the World Food Program for the central African region. “In terms of weight, in terms of height, in terms of health, the population is really in rough condition”.
