Bangui, the capital city of the Central African Republic (CAR), has been under the control of rebel groups for the past 50 days, only coming to an end on 8 February 2021. Bangui was invaded by these rebel groups on 19 December 2020 and subsequently blocked 1,500 trucks and cargo carriers from entering the CAR from neighboring Cameroon.
On 8 February 2021, fourteen trucks carrying food and other supplies arrived in Bangui, according to Lieutenant Colonel Abdoulaziz Fall, the spokesperson for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) peacekeeping mission. Nine of these trucks reportedly came from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). Violence such as this is not new to the CAR, unfortunately. Since 2013 when former president Francois Bozize was overthrown, the nation has been under the control of harmful and violent rebel groups. According to Al Jazeera, approximately two thirds of the CAR is controlled by rebel groups such as these.
Current president Faustin-Archange Touadera has sought help from the UN and other international aid organizations, as well as military personnel sent from Russia and Rwanda, according to Al Jazeera. Humanitarian actors such as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) want to assist 1.84 million people who have been displaced or currently live in poverty as a result of this blockade. OCHA would need $444.7 million in order to provide adequate aid to all those in need.
To know more, please read:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/8/aid-convoy-arrives-in-car-capital-amid-rebels-blockade
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/africa/news/2021-02/central-african-republic-humanitarian-aid.html
Author: Gabriella Pavlakis; Editor: Sitara Sandhu
