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UN Officials: Situation in CAR Can Be Turned Around With Sustained Aid

by Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA --

   U.N. aid officials say they are upbeat at the prospect of the Central
   African Republic (CAR) becoming a stable, peaceful country but they
   acknowledge that this will be a challenge requiring the sustained
   support of the international community.

   The CAR has been lurching from crisis to crisis over the past two
   decades. The country remains one of the poorest in the world with
   socioeconomic statistics that rank near the bottom of every
   international study.

   For example, United Nations data show one in five children will die
   before the age of five, one in every 10 women will die during
   childbirth and close to half of all children who grow to adulthood will
   suffer from chronic malnutrition, a malady with long-term physical and
   mental health consequences.

   Despite these and other statistics, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator
   in the CAR, Fabrizio Hochschild, says the United Nations believes the
   CAR is a country that can be turned around for the better and that it
   has taken some very important steps in that direction.

   "It has its first ever democratically elected government, an open
   government that acknowledges its challenges, a government more than
   ready to work with the international community. It has the largest ever
   international mission - MINUSCA, working there in partnership with the
   African Union," he said.

   According to Hochschild, the international community agrees about what
   needs to be done to make the CAR a viable, self-functioning state. He
   notes those elements are reflected in the five-year national recovery
   and stabilization plan that was launched in Brussels November 17 and
   netted $2.2 billion in pledges.

   While this is gratifying, Hochschild warns there are no quick fixes but
   that there is a chance now to deal with the root causes of the problems
   facing the troubled country. He says the CAR can become a beacon of
   peace in the region, if the international community remains committed
   to working with and supporting the country long-term.