Central African Republic Appeal

Despite an overall reduction in armed conflict incidents following the N’Djamena Peace Agreement in April 2025 between the main armed actors active in the country, and the establishment of a disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process, the humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic remains critical due to the fragile security environment, recurrent flooding, displacement, epidemics, structural poverty and institutional fragility. 

From September 2024 to August 2025, 90 incidents related to armed conflict and 56 incidents related to natural disasters and health emergencies affected 111,645 people. The country's southeast, northeast and west remain highly affected, with recurrent clashes reducing humanitarian presence and particularly affecting women and girls. 

More than 2.3 million people require humanitarian assistance, including 955,000 who require essential health services. The fragile health system limits access to primary healthcare, including maternal health care. The under-five mortality rate is 692 per 100,000 live births, among the highest in the world, and there is low vaccination coverage. Stockouts hinder treatment of priority diseases, including HIV, malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia.

Around 335,000 people, mostly children under 5 years of age and pregnant/breastfeeding women, require nutrition assistance. In areas covered by the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, 58,600 children are projected to be wasted in 2026, including 26,000 with severe wasting.

At least 41 per cent of children in the Central African Republic have no access to learning, 46 per cent learn in difficult conditions and many face major obstacles to learning. Insecurity has lead to the occupation and closure of schools. Altogether, 585,000 children and youth need education support.

More than 32 per cent of the population has no access to improved water sources, 52 per cent lacks adequate sanitation and 66 per cent lacks handwashing facilities. Around 1.1 million people need emergency WASH assistance. Forty-one per cent of health centres lack sufficient access to water and 81 per cent of schools lack appropriate WASH facilities. In 2025, 1,064 suspected mpox cases were reported with 151 confirmed (35 per cent of which were children under 5 years of age), including eight deaths. In areas hosting the highest numbers of Sudanese refugees, there is a lack of access to proper sanitation.

Child recruitment and other grave violations committed by parties to the conflict remain very serious concerns. Psychosocial distress, family separation, lack of legal identity and high levels of gender-based violence demand urgent attention. In the first quarter of 2025, 2,445 incidents of gender-based violence were recorded – 97 per cent female (of whom 42 per cent were girls).

In 2025, the Central African Republic was host to more than 55,312 refugees, including more than 40,000 from the Sudan. Existing refugee-hosting sites remain under strain and require additional resources to ensure basic protection.

The UNICEF response in the Central African Republic aligns with the humanitarian nexus approach, the humanitarian reset and the country’s 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan. 

UNICEF will address urgent health needs by strengthening institutions and partners while ensuring continuity of care in hard-to-reach, shock-affected areas. Integrated mobile services will be a key strategy and will serve as a multisectoral entry point for healthcare, nutrition and child protection interventions. They will also maximize impact and community resilience.

UNICEF will improve access to life-saving nutrition services and strengthen efforts to detect and prevent malnutrition. A priority will be capacity building of health centres. At the same time, mobile clinics and community platforms will reach areas with non-functional facilities. Healthcare and nutrition assistance will be a key pillar of the Sô Fini emergency response programme,21 which will provide multisectoral assistance to populations affected by shocks.

To support children's emergency education needs, UNICEF will work to improve access to and retention in school for displaced, returnee and refugee children and affected host community children, while enhancing education quality and strengthening child protection in schools. To maximize impact and efficiency in its emergency interventions, UNICEF will continue intersectoral interventions, particularly in the areas of child protection and WASH.

WASH efforts will improve inclusive, equitable access to life-saving water, sanitation and hygiene services for 94,912 people (including 53,300 children) facing high health and climate risks, including through the Sô Fini programme. UNICEF will rehabilitate water points and latrines; install solar systems for boreholes; promote hygiene; and support schools and health facilities using in-kind and cash-based modalities with government, non-governmental organizations and private partners. Work with national ministries will ensure local leadership, sustainability and stronger water system management and financing.

UNICEF contributes to the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan through cluster coordination and a priority focus on mental health and psychosocial support, via system strengthening and mobile teams. To enhance protection, community networks and parenting education will be expanded. UNICEF will prioritize case management for unaccompanied and separated children, children associated with armed forces and armed groups and for victims of sexual violence. This will include release-reintegration of children associated with armed actors and promoting family-based alternative care.

UNICEF’s Sô Fini emergency response programme will reinforce emergency preparedness and also provide multisectoral humanitarian assistance (including health, nutrition, WASH and child protection support) to communities affected by shocks in prioritized areas.

UNICEF will continue to respond with authorities and humanitarian actors to the urgent needs of Sudanese refugees in the areas of child protection, health, nutrition and WASH. RECOPE among refugee and host communities will continue to be developed and UNICEF will strengthen access to safe water and latrines, distribute kits for women and girls and reinforce health facilities. 

To support accountability and adaptive programming, UNICEF will use the inter-agency UNICARE framework to collect, manage and analyse community feedback and complaints. This will help strengthen implementation quality and responsiveness of programming and trust among affected populations. 

UNICEF will strengthen protection from and response to sexual exploitation and abuse to ensure that affected populations have access to safe reporting channels and to assistance, and that perpetrators are held accountable.