Interview with Leodégal Bazira, head of UN country team

The northwestern region of the Central African Republic (CAR) has faced a humanitarian crisis since an insurrection broke out in late 2005. Months of violence - caused by bandit attacks on civilians and the national army's pursuit of the armed groups behind the uprising - have resulted in untold suffering in the civilian population. Up to 100 people are feared to have died since January 2006, and thousands of others have been displaced into the bush or into neighbouring Chad. In January, the United Nations asked the donor community for US$3.3 million to fund priority projects in northwestern CAR. Late last week, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that the UN country team had received $1 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which was set up in early 2006 by the UN as a cash reserve for new emergencies or forgotten crises. On Monday, IRIN spoke to Léodégal Bazira, the head of the UN country team in CAR, on the latest funding. The following are excerpts of that interview: QUESTION: Please explain the funding CAR received last week. ANSWER: First of all, I would like to specify that the Central Emergency Response Fund [CERF] was created to help countries with humanitarian crises - such as the CAR - that receive poor responses from traditional humanitarian donors. The CERF has two components: rapid response and underfunded projects. Under the rapid-response component, the CAR had submitted an appeal for $3.3 million to fund five projects. However, we understood more recently that the CAR could benefit from $1 million in the frame of underfunded projects. We are now busy preparing for more urgent projects that have not been funded. Q: When will the funds reach CAR? A: Concerning the rapid-response constituent, on which the CAR country team had submitted [its appeal] for $3.3 million, the response is very quick. As our projects are adopted, the funding has to be available in the few coming weeks. For the underfunded projects, the mechanism is somehow a bit longer but still remains rapid, regarding responses to emergencies. Q: How will the funding be used? A: This money was required to help cope with the humanitarian situation prevailing in the northwest of the country. Following the events that are going on in the region since June 2005, when we noticed attacks by bandits and armed men that led to the reactions of the regular armed forces, 20,000 people have sought refuge in the southern Chadian town of Goré. According to sources close to NGOs operating in the region, there are between 30,000 and 50,000 displaced civilians. I mean people who are not living together and hiding in the bush to escape violence. This money will provide assistance to these people. We had appealed for this money under both [the] rapid-response mechanism and underfunded projects. Q: Under what conditions are the displaced people living? A: Men, women and children are living in a precarious situation. After losing their homes, they are hiding in the bush. They have no potable water, no medical care and are without enough food. These are vulnerable people who are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance in terms of food items, medicine and even seeds to help make up for lost time in the agricultural season that has already begun. Q: Given the ongoing unrest in the northwest of the country, how will the UN get this aid to the people? A: Most UN agencies work in close collaboration with NGOs operating on the ground. We're working with MSF [Médecins Sans Frontières]-Spain and the Italian NGO COOPI [Cooperazione Internazionale] to provide medical care and distribute food to the people.