Central African Republic: Aid for over 2,000 people in Bambari

GENEVA, Switzerland, August 5, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Thousands of people displaced by violence in Bambari, in the east-central part of the Central African Republic, continue to live in conditions of great hardship. To help relieve the strain, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Central African Red Cross Society distributed household essentials to more than 2,000 displaced people in Bambari from 30 July to 4 August.

Bambari was hard hit by violence at the beginning of July. "The humanitarian situation in the city is still critical," said Samuel Cadassou, an ICRC delegate in Bambari. "Many displaced people in and around the city are unable to reach the fields or markets. The fact that economic activity has not yet picked up affects people's basic ability to survive."

Most of the people receiving aid from the ICRC fled violence in the Bangui, Kouango or Grimari areas, or in the vicinity of Bambari. "They are not gathered in one place; they've been taken in by host families, and their living conditions are difficult," said Mr Cadassou. They have been given soap, clothing, sleeping mats, blankets, mosquito nets and jerrycans to make their daily lives somewhat easier.

"These people had to leave their towns and villages in great haste, and they lost everything. Business people lost their businesses, and people with fields to cultivate can no longer reach them," he said. In addition to the other aid it distributed, the ICRC gave rice, cooking oil, beans and salt to more than 400 displaced people between Bambari and Ippy.

The ICRC is also continuing to meet the daily drinking water requirement of 18,000 displaced people at two sites in Bambari.