{"id":90264,"date":"2024-07-12T12:08:54","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T10:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=90264"},"modified":"2024-07-12T12:15:28","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T10:15:28","slug":"crisis-and-hope-car-children-struggle-amid-conflict-amid-hope-for-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/crisis-and-hope-car-children-struggle-amid-conflict-amid-hope-for-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Crisis and Hope: CAR children struggle amid Conflict, amid hope for change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div id=\"attachment_90265\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-90265\" data-attachment-id=\"90265\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/crisis-and-hope-car-children-struggle-amid-conflict-amid-hope-for-change\/180904_car_unicef_bangui_00689\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/UN0239545.jpg.Circle.700w.jpg?fit=700%2C467&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"700,467\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4.5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;\\u00a9 UNICEF\/UN0239545\/Gilbertson V&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;X-Pro2&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Internally displaced children at a UNICEF child friendly space at Sangaris camp in Bambari, Central African Republic on September 3, 2018. Around 12,000 Christian people live in Sangaris camp, which was set up around the former French military outpost in response to the most recent crisis in this country in 2013.  Bambari, with a population of 54,000 people, and 40,000 I.D.P.s, is C.A.R.&#039;s second largest city. Since the crisis began, it has experienced waves of violence, and today, it is split along religious lines. There is no electricity or running water in the city.\\r\\n\\r\\n In December 2013, Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, descended into a brutal bloodbath. The violence fleetingly made international headlines, leading to warnings of a failed state and possible genocide before it gradually diminished. But now the few early signs of recovery and rebuilding in CAR have given way to a dramatic resurgence in fighting that has enveloped parts of the country previously spared from the violence. Today life is even harsher and more fraught with danger for children than it was at the peak of the crisis. And, judging by the amount of attention and funding CAR gets, barely anyone is watching what is happening across this vast, landlocked country in the heart of Africa. Two out of three children in CAR need humanitarian assistance. One in four children is displaced or a refugee. The skeletal bodies of children fortunate enough to make it to the nutrition ward at CAR&#039;s only pediatric hospital virtually scream \\&quot;famine\\&quot;. Almost every single Central African child needs protection from the fighting and its far-reaching effects. Children who joined armed groups because their parents had been killed, or because they were so poor \\u2013 and who eventually left because they were terrified, or hungry, or realized it was a dead-end \\u2013 desperately need a break, an opportunity, the prospect of a decent life. Girls whose bodies have been brutalized \\u2013 whether by armed milit&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1536019200&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;\\u00a9 Notice: UNICEF photographs are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any medium without written permission from authorized&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;23&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;180904_CAR_UNICEF_Bangui_00689&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"[Photo: UNICEF Bangui]\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/UN0239545.jpg.Circle.700w.jpg?fit=700%2C467&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-90265 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/UN0239545.jpg.Circle.700w.jpg?resize=300%2C200&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-90265\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">[Photo: UNICEF-Bangui]<\/p><\/div>Azra Hoosen | <a href=\"mailto:ah@radioislam.co.za\">ah@radioislam.co.za<\/a><br \/>\n12 July 2024 | 11:45 CAT<br \/>\n2 min read<\/p>\n<p>Children of the Central African Republic (CAR) are facing the highest levels of crisis and deprivation worldwide, according to UNICEF. Ten years of conflict have left all three million children in CAR at risk, with half lacking access to health services, only 37% attending school regularly, and nearly 40% suffering from chronic malnutrition.<\/p>\n<p>UNICEF Representative Meritxell Rela\u00f1o Arana remarked that the past decade has been tumultuous for children, marked by the escalation of conflict in 2013\/2014. Many of the gains the country had achieved were lost during this period.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith regards to the Education system, at least 25% of children are not going to school and have never been. There is still a need to provide schools, resources, teachers and materials,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Arana highlighted the inadequate number of health centres in the country, resulting in many children lacking access to healthcare.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Arana mentioned that there are also instances of violence, particularly sexual violence against children, highlighting significant violations of their human rights.<\/p>\n<p>According to Arana, due to numerous global crises in the past decade, the Central African Republic (CAR) has not received significant media attention, resulting in lower visibility and reduced donor support compared to other major crises.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these dire circumstances, the government&#8217;s new National Development Plan offers an opportunity for positive change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe National Development Plan can be an opportunity for all donors and partners to gather around and support the country to establish basic social services,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Arana expressed hope, highlighting the country is currently in a phase of stability, with the government having regained control of the territory. Social services are beginning to be deployed, and there is a strong government commitment to invest in human capital and infrastructure to foster economic development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe humanitarian situation is there but we are moving towards developments,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong>LISTEN<\/strong> to the full interview with Ml Sulaimaan Ravat and UNICEF Representative to CAR, Meritxell Rela\u00f1o Arana,<a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/radioislam\/crisis-and-hope-car-children-struggle-amid-conflict-amid-hope-for-change?si=8813244831f340d7abbe8d99f92a332f&amp;utm_source=clipboard&amp;utm_medium=text&amp;utm_campaign=social_sharing\"> here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za 12 July 2024 | 11:45 CAT 2 min read Children of the Central African Republic (CAR) are facing the highest levels of crisis and deprivation worldwide, according to UNICEF. Ten years of conflict have left all three million children in CAR at risk, with half lacking access to health services, only [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":90265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/UN0239545.jpg.Circle.700w.jpg?fit=700%2C467&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-ntS","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-20 14:59:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}