Central African Republic

The leading causes of displacement in CAR are the military operations by the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) and their allies against non-state armed groups, as well as fear of abuses by parties to the conflict. Some populations perceive imminent fighting and move to safer areas as a precautionary measure. 

Successive reports in recent months have referred to the excessive use of force and continuing human rights violations and abuses. This includes conflict-related sexual violence, grave violations against children, military use of schools and hospitals, targeted abuses and stigmatization of ethnic and religious minorities, excessive use of force by all perpetrators, and numerous violations of the SOFA. In a country where the protection situation was already dire, the crisis exacerbated existing vulnerabilities, particularly among women and children, with an increase in gender-based violence. Approximately 37% of GBV incidents reported by UNHCR's protection monitoring were sexual in nature, and armed men perpetrated 50% of these. 

Several major protection threats and risks with direct protection impacts, including for women and children in CAR, will persist in 2022, with consequences for the scale of protection needs. 

The emergency response was an opportunity to deploy the new approach of the protection monitoring project. Due to limited humanitarian access, remote protection monitoring has been reinforced by a community-based approach involving community relays and key informants living in the communities. Community structures were also strengthened to support a community-based protection response.