Central Africa Republic

Requester:

Nutrition Cluster Coordinator 

Background

The humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) rapidly and tragically deteriorated in 2018. Though democratic presidential elections were held, the peace process did not translate into improved conditions for the men, women, boys and girls of CAR. The proportion of people in need of humanitarian aid was among the highest in the world. Nearly 1 in 2 Central Africans, including 2.2 million children depended on humanitarian aid to survive. Armed groups were shifting alignment and splintering which prevented negotiation for humanitarian access further worsening the situation. 70% of the country was beyond government control. The rapid SMART survey results revealed a deterioration of the nutritional situation. The data showed Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) prevalence higher than 2 percent in 39 sub-prefectures (out of 78 in total) and Global Acute Malnutrition prevalence (GAM) higher than 15 percent. It was estimated that there were 43,055 children aged 6-59 months with SAM and 69,297 children with MAM in CAR in 2019. 

The request  

There was a limited capacity across partners to provide qualitative and consistent IYCF-E interventions, monitoring and reporting systems, and to put in place an IYCF-E response plan for adequate scaling up. As such Tech RRT IYCF-E Advisor was requested in CAR in February 2019 to support the nutrition cluster. 

Key Achievement: 

1. IYCF capacity assessment report. 

2. IYCF-E response plan outlining gaps, activities, timeline, and resources and funding needed. 

3. Capacity building and organization of training/mentoring of partners, including modules on IYCF-E orientation for other sectors. 

4. A package of standardized M&E tools using indicators agreed upon by the Nutrition Cluster members. 

A post-deployment webinar took place on 29th November 2019. The slides can be found here. 

Requester:

Inter-Cluster Nutrition Working Group

Background 

In 2012 the Inter-cluster Nutrition Working Group (ICWG) was established. A joint working group of the Global Food Security Cluster (GFSC), co-led by FAO and WFP, and the Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC), led by UNICEF. The ICWG identified the limited capacities of humanitarian partners and clusters for multi-sectoral nutrition-sensitive and specific programming among the main barriers to effectively achieving nutrition outcomes in humanitarian settings. To address this, the ICWG developed a training package to support in-country cluster coordinators and partners in applying nutrition-sensitive approaches across sectors. The training package was rolled out in 4 countries (Yemen, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and DRC) and needed to be rolled out in CAR; with more countries in the pipeline to help build an integrated response package to better aid the over 6 million people in need. 

The request  

The Tech RRT CMAM Advisor was requested to co-facilitate the integrated cluster training package in a 3-day workshop in Bangui – CAR.

Key Achievement: 

• Integrated cluster training co-facilitated in Bangui in June 2019. 

Resources 

ANJE-U RCA March Training Report  

Requester: 

 Nutrition Cluster Coordinator 

Background 

The Central African Republic (CAR) was considered one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, in terms of the proportion of the population displaced and people in need of humanitarian aid. According to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 2019 CAR Response Plan, more than 1 in 2 Central Africans, 2.9 million people relied on humanitarian aid to survive. Ongoing conflict due to a Civil War which began in 2012 has culminated in a protection and security crisis, with more than 50% of the country currently under the control of various armed groups. The ongoing conflict worsened conditions for already vulnerable families. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) projection for Sept-Oct 2019 estimated that 1.35 million people (29% of the population) would be facing severe acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3+) and called for urgent action.

The request  

Undernutrition is a major problem in the country, constituting one of the primary causes of morbidity among children under five. The national SMART survey conducted in 2018 showed a national prevalence of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) of 7,1%, and chronic malnutrition of 37.7%. However, due to the quality of the 2018 national SMART survey, UNICEF recommended repeating the exercise in 2019 with additional technical support. As such, a TST assessment adviser was requested.

Key Achievement: 

• Contributed to the finalization and validation of the CAR National SMART survey protocol 

• Refined and adapted survey tools for data collection, including an electronic questionnaire for mobile data collection 

• Co-facilitated the SMART enumerator training with a total of 106 participants 

Resources

SMART RCA National Survey 2019 Training Report