International • Created December 30, 2016 18:07

UN in ‘deep concern’ at resurgent attacks on relief workers in CAR

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has voiced deep concern at the resurgence of attacks against humanitarian workers in crisis-ripped Central African Republic (CAR). According to the UN relief wing in CAR, there has been 336 attacks against humanitarian workers in 2016, 56.8 per cent of them robberies and burglaries. OCHA […]

UN in ‘deep concern’ at resurgent attacks on relief workers in CAR
UN in ‘deep concern’ at resurgent attacks on relief workers in CAR

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has voiced deep concern at the resurgence of attacks against humanitarian workers in crisis-ripped Central African Republic (CAR).

According to the UN relief wing in CAR, there has been 336 attacks against humanitarian workers in 2016, 56.8 per cent of them robberies and burglaries.

OCHA Bureau Chief, Joseph Inganji, regretted that a total of 24 workers had been killed since 2013.

“Five humanitarian workers were killed in 2016 in the line of duty.

“These attacks occurred as humanitarian crises multiply in several prefectures with an alarming increase in the number of displaced.

“Humanitarian action has no other purpose than to save lives.

“Tackling the humanitarian community is tantamount to attacking the most vulnerable populations, those who need often vital assistance,” he said.

The OCHA official said during the last quarter, the outbreaks of violence displaced more than 70,000 people in the country.

“In some areas, humanitarian workers cannot reach the displaced that are hidden in the bush due to insecurity.

“The most negative impact of the reduction of humanitarian space is thus felt by the most deprived,’’ Inganji said.

He, however, said that the humanitarian appeal of 532 million U.S. dollars had been “poorly” funded, with only 34 per cent of the target met.

“In 2017, about 2.2 million, or nearly half of the 4.6 million people in the country will be in need of humanitarian aid,” the OCHA Bureau Chief explained.

 

Inganji expressed the hope that OCHA would be able to reach all of those in need of humanitarian assistance in 2017.

He, however, demanded that the situation for security and financing must improve. (NAN)

 

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