GENEVA, (Reuters) – Inter-communal violence is tearing Central African Republic apart but the conflict is not getting the attention, or aid, needed to save huge numbers of lives, the head of the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said yesterday.
Almost 200,000 people have fled the country since December, and a further 160,000 are expected to this year. The UNHCR says it is spending cash there three times as fast as new funds are coming in, putting its mission in jeopardy.
“Indeed, we are in trouble,” UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres told diplomats as he launched a $274 million appeal.
Central African Republic is only one crisis among many demanding U.N. funds stretched by humanitarian needs in South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, as well as natural disasters such as Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, and above all, Syria.
