"If we leave, who will care for them?": An aid worker in the Central African Republic
by Anaïs Hotin
“We received money from the World Food Programme. When the conflict began, the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] came to help us, as well as IRC [International Rescue Committee],” recounted Fané Salé, a 37-year-old mother of nine, remembering the critical support she received when she was first displaced by war in the Central African Republic (CAR).
More than 10 years ago, she and her family ended up 800km away, in Zémio, southeast of the country, after having fled violence between armed groups in Bambari, northeast of the capital, Bangui. She recalled how the early support she received from humanitarians was crucial.
“I was relieved. With the money we received, we were able to enroll our children in school, take care of their health, buy them clothes, and provide school supplies,” said Fané who, together with her husband, is taking care of 15 children, including six orphans.
Humanitarian support
Zémio has been far from the safe haven she and her family sought.
“In 2017, the conflict broke out between Séléka and the Anti-Balaka in Zémio. Our houses were set on fire, and we lost everything. The Anti-Balaka killed our cattle in the bush and we fled again. In 2024, another conflict broke out, and our belongings were looted.”
Having lost all their assets, Fané and other displaced people have been relying on humanitarian partners for most of their needs. The partners' efforts to help people are funded by the OCHA-managed pooled funds — the CAR Humanitarian Fund – with donations from the governments of Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Jersey, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the UN Global Emergency Fund (CERF),
“Recently, the ICRC repaired our water point. In recent months, the NGO, ALIMA [The Alliance for International Medical Action] has also been providing us with medical care. WFP has been here since the beginning,” she elaborated.
Life was not always like this
Back in Bambari, Fané was independent, earning a living through farming and rearing cattle before the war.
“You know, for us Mbororo-Fulani, the cattle we raise are what help us solve our problems,” she says. “You sell a cow, and it covers your needs. With the money, you can buy clothes, shoes for the children, take care of their health, and buy food.”
That sense of pride and agency over her own life has been diminished by violence and displacement.
“Here, we live in this Zémio neighbourhood as if we were living in a box. We can't go beyond five kilometres to farm, and we can't go beyond five kilometers to collect firewood,” she says.
For a cattle-keeping community, the inability to keep livestock due to insecurity has made life particularly challenging.
“We don't know what to do, because we don't know how to trade,” said Fané, describing life in the host neighbourhood, where she and others now work the land to earn a meagre living. “We don't have beds, we no longer have cooking utensils, and we don't have much to eat.”
About one in five people in CAR has been forcibly displaced, and every hour, two people suffer gender-based violence, particularly women and girls.
“Some of them are widows because their husbands were killed. There are no men left. These women are raising their children alone, with some caring for 10 to 20 children. They do it all without husbands,” says Fané.
Impact of funding cuts
With most international humanitarian organizations shuttered due to brutal funding cuts, humanitarian assistance has declined, limiting desperately needed services, including health care.
“When it comes to medical care, ALIMA continues to help us,” says Fané.
This shrinking presence of humanitarians is making an already dire situation worse for local communities, according to Jean Claude Yissa Mushengezi, a project manager for Cooperazione Internazionale, one of the only two international partners left on the ground to provide medical care.
“People who have endured years of conflict now find themselves with no support to meet even their most basic needs,” he said.
ALIMA – the other remaining partner agency – plans to reduce its activities in the area due to lack of funding, further jeopardizing the health of thousands by withdrawing from five localities in the southeast.
Asked why they continue to stay, given the funding situation, Grevisse Kahindura, a project manager with ALIMA said he considered it his duty to stay because he regards people from Central Africa as his brothers and sisters.
“If we leave, who will care for them? These communities have already lost so much. Someone has to stay here to help,” he says.
But Fané emphasized that many would rather be supported to become self-reliant, given relative peace and stability in CAR now.
“Our three main priorities are: first, we need support to start income-generating activities. If we can run successful businesses, that will be a big win for us. The second need is for assistance with livestock farming. And the third request is the construction of a hospital, along with access to clean drinking water.”
Although the security situation has improved in CAR, millions of people still rely on humanitarians for food, health care, water, and shelter.
Your donation, through the CAR Humanitarian Fund, will help to rapidly provide tents, food and health care to the most vulnerable people.