Aid dependency, weak governance and protracted conflict mean that Central African Republic is in danger of becoming “the case study of a failed state”, a report warns.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) urges the international community to move beyond humanitarian aid to resolve the country’s conflict. Fighting has engulfed CAR since early 2013, when mostly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in the capital, Bangui, sparking reprisal attacks from Christian militias.

In a report released on Tuesday, Too Soon to Turn Away: Security, Governance and Humanitarian Need in the Central African Republic, the IRC say the international community must “focus on diplomacy, peacekeeping, and humanitarian and development assistance” in its efforts to resolve the conflict.

David Miliband, president and CEO of the IRC, said: “Central African Republic needs a new start, or it will become the case study of a failed state. Underfunded humanitarian aid programmes are a lifeline for more than half the population, but they need more and different help.”

The report says the UN and other international actors must engage diplomatically with both sides of the conflict to address the root causes of violence. “CAR can’t break the decades-long cycle of violence and humanitarian need without serious investment in strengthening governance and security,” the IRC says.

The report, based on research inside the country in March, says 6,000 people have been killed since the conflict began and 2.7 million – more than half the country’s population – are in need of emergency assistance. According to the UN’s refugee agency, more than 460,000 people have fled to neighbouring states, and 436,000 are displaced internally.

Claire Bourgeois, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for CAR, said in April that they country is in danger of “becoming a forgotten crisis” and that more funds need to be raised to protect displaced people and provide humanitarian support.

The UN has asked for $613m to pay for humanitarian programmes in the country, but the report says that as of May, just $129.6m, or 21% of the funding, had been met. Harvests in the country have halved since the fighting started, putting 1.5 million people at risk of food shortages.

If the conflict escalates and funding needs are not met, as many as 3.45 million people could face food insecurity by the end of the year, the IRC says.

The fighting has made the distribution of food aid problematic. On Monday, the UN peacekeeping operation in CAR “strongly condemned” attacks that have prevented the World Food Programme (WFP) from distributing food. About 455,000 tonnes of food has been pillaged from WFP deliveries, according to the IRC.

A WFP staff member told the IRC: “There are moments when you can’t even move a truck because of gunfire. You may be meant to give food in one zone, and when en route you are stopped by armed persons and pillaged. Or you arrive at your target village, and the village is attacked after you have completed.”

But the IRC warns that the country is becoming too dependent on aid. CAR’s health facilities are overly reliant on humanitarian assistance, with 80% of clinics requiring aid to stay open, the report says.



Central Africans quoted in the IRC report ask for help putting their country on the path to peace, rather than for food aid. An internally displaced person interviewed by the IRC says: “What we are asking of the international community is not food. We are asking the international community to disarm combatants so that we can go home to the neighbourhoods we abandoned when we came to these IDP [internally displaced person] sites. Neither food nor the small income-generating activities at these sites will allow us to go home.”

Last week, anti-corruption group Global Witness said European and Chinese logging companies have fuelled the conflict by paying nearly €3.4m (£2.4m) in security and checkpoint payments, though they also paid €3.7m in state taxes. Alexandra Pardal, a Global Witness campaign leader, said: “People are losing out in this country, even though it’s one of the most resource-rich places on earth.”

Landlocked CAR has rich deposits of diamonds and gold, as well as timber, but little of that wealth has trickled down to its 4.6 million people.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are due to be held on 18 October and 22 November.