Despite Peace Agreement, Violence Takes a Toll on Health in the Central African Republic

By Hannah Webster, Former advocacy communications intern, IntraHealth InternationalJune 11, 2020For people living in the Central African Republic, life since 2012 has been defined by civil war, violence against civilians, an overwhelming need for humanitarian aid, and persistent attacks on clinics, health workers, and patients. Given the hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians, rampant murder and sexual assault, consistent impunity of human rights violations, and little leverage by the government and international peacekeeping organizations, theUnited Nations has deemed the situation a large-scale humanitarian crisis.Fourteen armed groups signed a Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation more than a year ago, and a new special criminal court was established to seek to end impunity. Still, peace in the country remains uncertain.Over the past three years, there have been well over 100 incidents of violence against health, including assaults, lootings, the destruction of health facilities and more—though the actual number may be much higher, as theWorld Health Organization’sreporting system deteriorated significantly in 2019 in many countries and specifically in the Central African Republic. The targets included clinics, international nongovernmental organization (NGO) health workers, and patients, as well as supplies at medical warehouses, health facilities, and international NGO compounds.Also read: Violence against health care in the CAR a...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Global health security Health in Conflict Source Type: news