{"id":56546,"date":"2015-10-23T11:29:06","date_gmt":"2015-10-23T09:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/2015\/10\/emergency-relief-coordinator-calls-for-greater-protection-of-civilians-in-central-african-republic\/"},"modified":"2015-10-23T11:29:06","modified_gmt":"2015-10-23T09:29:06","slug":"emergency-relief-coordinator-calls-for-greater-protection-of-civilians-in-central-african-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/emergency-relief-coordinator-calls-for-greater-protection-of-civilians-in-central-african-republic\/","title":{"rendered":"Emergency relief coordinator calls for greater protection of civilians in Central African Republic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                        <span dir=\"ltr\"><br \/>\n                                                    GENEVA, Switzerland, October 23, 2015\/APO (African Press Organization)\/ &#8212;<br \/>\n                                                <\/span><\/p>\n<p>United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O\u2019Brien, today called for greater and sustained commitment to the Central African Republic (CAR), which is grappling with a deepening humanitarian crisis. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p \/>\n<p>\u201cWe must persevere in our support for the Central African Republic. The situation here needs to have the world\u2019s attention. Not only are people suffering, but violence continues to be waged, preventing good governance, the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance, and a chance for Central Africans to begin building a better future. Violence is also taking a toll on important achievements made to date,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. O\u2019Brien visited the CAR 20 to 23 October to see first-hand the humanitarian consequences of the conflict and efforts by aid organizations to respond to escalating needs. He was the first high-level official from United Nations headquarters to visit the country since violence broke out in September, displacing more than 62,000 people. USG O\u2019Brien visited the Saint Sauveur IDP site and PK5 neighbourhood in Bangui, as well as the Dekoa area, where more than 10,000 people were recently displaced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have spoken to internally displaced people in Dekoa. I have heard from them what it is like to escape from violence, looking for safety. I have witnessed the extraordinary efforts made by humanitarian actors to bring them life-saving assistance and protection, despite challenging circumstances. The humanitarian community will continue to do its best to help the women, children and men of the Central African Republic throughout this crisis. We are here to stay and deliver,\u201d said Mr. O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n<p>This new outbreak of violence has aggravated an already dire humanitarian situation. Some 2.7 million people \u2013 more than half of the country\u2019s population \u2013 need humanitarian assistance; some 400,000 people are internally displaced; and some 454,000 people have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. During meetings with members of the transitional Government, the Emergency Relief Coordinator urged respect for humanitarian principles, for free movement, and for access for humanitarian workers to those in need.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople have only one wish: to go home and to return to their lives in safety. \u00a0It is our collective responsibility to provide them with shelter, assistance and protection, until such time as the conditions are sufficient for their voluntary return,\u201d noted Mr. O\u2019Brien. \u201cIt is also essential that national authorities further their efforts to protect civilians and to support the free movement of people, particularly those who are at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\nUSG O\u2019Brien today released US$12 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support life-saving assistance for people affected by the conflict in CAR. \u201cCERF continues to provide a life-line for humanitarian operations in CAR, but additional funds are urgently needed to meet the scale of the challenge,\u201d said Mr. O\u2019Brien. \u201cI urge donors to continue supporting vital relief efforts in CAR.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GENEVA, Switzerland, October 23, 2015\/APO (African Press Organization)\/ &#8212; United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O\u2019Brien, today called for greater and sustained commitment to the Central African Republic (CAR), which is grappling with a deepening humanitarian crisis. \u00a0 \u201cWe must persevere in our support for the Central African Republic. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[428,4585,830],"class_list":{"0":"post-56546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-africa-news-2","7":"tag-africa","8":"tag-apo","9":"tag-news","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56546\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}