Program Details: 
Central African Republic: Meeting Basic Needs While Building Opportunities

Central African Republic has been described by the United Nations High Commissioner as "the most neglected crisis in the world."

The Central African Republic (CAR) is one of the poorest countries in the world. It is large, landlocked and sparsely populated, with declining socio-economic indicators.

The statistics are sobering. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranked CAR second-to-last – 178 out of 179 countries – on its 2008 Human Development Index. Two-thirds of the population lives on less than $1 per day. In just two decades (1988 to 2008), life expectancy plummeted – from an already brief 49 years to an even shorter 43 years.

The availability of potable water is a core issue that touches on every aspect of life. Only 31.5 percent of urban populations and 26 percent of rural populations have access to safe drinking water. Because so few people have the water and sanitation humans require, disease is rampant. Malaria is pervasive, and the country suffers annual outbreaks of typhoid fever, yellow fever and meningitis.

Sadly, because its population is small and the country ranks low on the development agenda of the international community, the problems of the Central African Republic have long been neglected.

Mercy Corps Programs Meet Basic Needs, Lay a Stronger Foundation for the Future
Mercy Corps is helping the people of the Central African Republic gain access to clean water and safe sanitation and adopt healthy hygiene practices. We also are working to reinforce good governance and expand economic opportunities so people can support their families.

Mercy Corps is one of the few organizations currently working in CAR that focuses on
development rather than humanitarian assistance. With a head office in the capital, Bangui, and sub-offices located in three regional capitals – Bouar, Bambari and Bangassou – Mercy Corps is able to provide assistance to a large segment of the CAR population.

Improving Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
Mercy Corps’ Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program focuses on building
infrastructure, instituting and supporting community management committees and providing hygiene education.

We have improved traditional wells, installed boreholes, repaired pumps, constructed a water reservoir and capped four springs that now provide more than 100,000 people with access to potable water. We organize and support water point committees, run by community representatives, that maintain and manage water sources to ensure that they remain operational. In addition, our hygiene education campaign has reached nearly 110,000 people. The campaign teaches people about the transmission of water borne diseases and the importance of preventive behaviors such as hand-washing.

Empowering Women, Raising Awareness
Mercy Corps and our local partner, the Organization of Central African Women (OFCA), are working together to expand the capacity of 70 women’s organizations throughout the country and to strengthen linkages among women’s organizations so they can learn from each other and build upon their successes. We are empowering women to become stewards of their own development and raising awareness, among both women and men, of women’s social, economic and political rights.

Mercy Corps provides women’s organizations with training in organizational, financial and
project management skills. Upon completion of the capacity-building program, women’s groups are eligible to apply for funding to support small social and economic projects that benefit group members and the community.

Agriculture and Food Security
The global rise in food prices has increased the need for food assistance in the already-food-insecure communities where Mercy Corps works.

Even before the recent price spike, much of the population of CAR was undernourished. In
“normal” years, two thirds of the people struggled through their day without adequate nutrition. The most vulnerable households had to sacrifice the quantity of food, its quality or, as was often the case, both. Now the situation is even worse.

To alleviate the effects of rising food prices, Mercy Corps is conducting a comprehensive food security program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

One initiative uses the cash-for-work approach, in which community members are paid for their labor on public works projects such as road rehabilitation and market upgrades. To date, this program has provided much-needed income to 408 vulnerable families whose members worked to complete 17 infrastructure projects. With the cash they earn, families are able to purchase food and other essential supplies.

We also are working with 60 agricultural groups to help them strengthen their livelihoods and improve their access to transportation, quality seeds and credit. Mercy Corps provides farmers with agricultural inputs, such as seeds and tools, and technical support, such as information on how to increase productivity, improve post- harvest storage and get products to market. By using more effective agricultural techniques, higher-yield seeds and better tools, farmers boost their production of staple crops such as maize, peanuts and cassava.

We’re also improving access to microfinance so that groups can get credit to sustain their micro- enterprises. Mercy Corps is creating and training community savings and loans associations to make savings plans, credit and insurance more available. This program is helping the hardworking people of CAR gain the financial backing they need to achieve success in their businesses and support their families with dignity.