The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, today announced additional funding to address the urgent humanitarian needs in the Central African Republic.
The funding in humanitarian assistance initiatives, totalling more than $11 million, will be allocated in the following way:
1. Action Against Hunger ($1 million) – Through this project, Action Against Hunger will improve the health and nutritional status of malnourished children in Bangui and surrounding areas through:
- screening 174,000 children under five years old for malnutrition;
- treating 6,120 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition;
- treating 8,000 children under five years old suffering from malaria; and
- providing medical and nutritional supplies, equipment, and health-worker training for 15 health centres.
2. Food and Agriculture Organization ($1 million) – Canada's support will contribute to improved food security for 60,000 vulnerable people through the provision of:
- equipment and training for vulnerable women to carry out agricultural income-generating activities;
- seeds, tools and small livestock to vulnerable households; and
- agricultural and nutritional training to enhance farming skills and diversify nutritional food consumption.
3. International Committee of the Red Cross ($3 million) – Canada's support will contribute to meeting the health, food security, water and sanitation, and protection needs of conflict-affected people through the provision of:
- safe drinking water and sanitation facilities for up to 530,000 people;
- food rations for up to 25,000 people;
- emergency shelter and basic household items for up to 12,500 people;
- seeds, tools and assistance to herder households benefiting up to 49,850 vulnerable farmers;
- medical supplies, equipment, vaccinations, and medical training enabling three health facilities to provide primary and secondary health care;
- protection services for survivors of sexual violence and reunification support to reunite minors with their families; and
- representations to armed groups regarding misconduct against civilians.
4. Doctors Without Borders ($3 million) – Through this project, Doctors Without Borders will address the urgent health needs of up to 181,000 people in the Ouham region through the provision of:
- primary and secondary emergency health care;
- basic immunizations for children;
- treatment for children with malnutrition; and
- support to epidemiological surveillance to monitor and control disease outbreaks.
5. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ($350,000) – Canada's support will contribute to providing the following throughout the Central African Republic:
- improved coordination of humanitarian agencies to ensure an effective and needs-based humanitarian response;
- improved communications tools and increased surge capacity of clusters in areas of high humanitarian need;
- effective support to humanitarian agencies in security analysis and civil-military relations; and
- management of joint funding mechanisms to respond to evolving humanitarian priorities.
6. UNICEF ($1.5 million) – Canada's support will contribute to improved health, water and sanitation services, access to essential household items, and child protection services for more than 2.2 million vulnerable people in the Central African Republic through the:
- treatment of 16,800 children under five years old with severe acute malnutrition;
- vaccination of 739,000 children against measles;
- provision of safe, reliable water to 650,000 people;
- improvement of sanitation services for 150,000 displaced people;
- reunification of 1,200 children, formerly associated with armed groups, with their families;
- provision of comprehensive services to 2,000 survivors of sexual violence; and
- provision of antimalarial bed nets to 744,000 children and pregnant women.
7. United Nations World Food Programme ($1 million) – Canada's support will contribute to the provision of food and nutrition assistance to more than 1.25 million persons affected by conflict in the Central African Republic through:
- general food distribution;
- blanket and targeted supplementary feeding for children under five years old, as well as pregnant and lactating women; and
- emergency school feeding.
8. World Food Programme–United Nations Humanitarian Air Service ($500,000) – Canada's support will contribute to ensuring that humanitarian efforts reach beneficiaries through the provision of:
- safe and reliable passenger air service for more than 65 humanitarian organizations and donor agencies to 27 locations in the country;
- transportation of light cargo (e.g. medicines) for humanitarian agencies; and
- timely medical and security evacuations for humanitarian staff.
