How we're going further for vulnerable children in the Central African Republic

In recent years, the Central African Republic (CAR) has witnessed a shrinking humanitarian space due to a number of factors including insecurity and bad road infrastructure, especially the during rainy season. Despite the challenges, humanitarian actors assisted 1.8 million people in 2021 –that is 97% of the target.

Through our work with partners across the country, World Vision is adapting operating models to offer life-saving support to vulnerable children and their families. As we continue to collaborate with partners from all sectors to address challenges hindering children from experiencing fullness of life, we are determined even more than ever to reach the most vulnerable.

Addressing hunger and malnutrition

In response to food insecurity, we are partnering with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in CAR to help feed more than 24,000 students through school feeding programmes. This work helps children in poverty access nutritional food, which keeps them in school and out of child labour. 

World Vision aspires that children who receive school meals are educated for life, experience good health and nutrition, be cared for and loved, feel protected, and, that one day, they will be better able to serve as leaders in their own communities, nations, and to the next generation.

Providing clean water and promoting hygiene and sanitation

To ensure access to clean water and sanitation for families affected by conflict, who are increasingly vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are installing facilities in villages and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, alongside partners like Aktion Deutschland Hilft.

In 2021, we reached more than 500,000 people through our behaviour change messaging. In addition, we reached more than 110,000 people with clean water.

Ensuring children and families are healthy

With malaria being the leading cause of death among children under five in CAR, World Vision is working alongside government and partners such as The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to provide access to life-saving medication and long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets (LLINs).

In our 2021 fiscal year, teams from the Ministry of Health and World Vision, in close collaboration with national NGOs (MAHDED, ACAMS and REMOD), implemented a mass LLIN distribution campaign through advocacy meetings with community opinion leaders, and social mobilisation within the targeted community. 

During the campaign, nearly 8,000 local volunteers participated actively as volunteers (household mobilisers, town announcers, independent monitors, supervisors, local government storekeepers, store security officers, conveyors and LLIN distribution point team members for the duration of the campaign).

Working with faith leaders to foster peaceful communities

World Vision is working with faith leaders on peace-building and social cohesion through our Channels of Hope (CoH) model that uses an interactive process to create a safe space for these leaders to become active participants in the well-being of children. CoH reaches to the root causes and deepest convictions that impact attitudes, norms, values and practices toward the most vulnerable. The process is grounded in guiding principles from participants’ religious texts and is designed to move the heart, inform the mind and motivate a sustained and effective response to significant issues.

Without proselytising or changing people’s doctrine, CoH equips faith leaders to apply their religious texts to key social issues and encourage other faith leaders and faith communities to do the same.

It has been a long road, and not without challenges, but we are determined now more than ever to go further than we've ever imagined for vulnerable children and families across CAR, and the West Africa Region. 

With the continued support of our partners, as well as the invaluable contributions of our dedicated field staff, we believe that we will go even further towards a world where there is hope, joy and justice for every child.