26/09/2013  - 

Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, United Nations Under-Secretary-General Valerie Amos and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called for urgent action to meet humanitarian needs in the Central African Republic (CAR) at a High-Level Meeting in New York today.

"The conflict in the Central African Republic has created a desperate humanitarian crisis in a country where people already face a daily struggle to feed themselves," said Commissioner Georgieva. "There are consequences for the region as a whole. The CAR is at the centre of an immensely fragile region of Africa. Neighbouring countries all have a stake in what is happening in the CAR."

The humanitarian situation in CAR is catastrophic, affecting the entire population of 4.6 million people. In recent weeks the number of internally displaced people has almost doubled to 400 000. Commissioner Georgieva and her counterparts concluded that a significant increase in humanitarian funding was essential, and that a rapid improvement in security was a precondition for getting urgently-needed assistance to the worst-affected people.

This year the European Commission has allocated €20 million of humanitarian aid to CAR - a 150% increase from last year in response to the deterioration brought about by the fighting. "This has been the world's most forgotten crisis. I am confident that the world is finally waking up to a crisis which has been ignored for too long," Commissioner Georgieva said.