MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2021) The Central African Republic's Red Cross has a 75 percent underfunded budget and urges state parties to the Geneva convention to step up support for humanitarian efforts in the conflict-hit country, Bruce Biber, the head of the delegation in CAR, told Sputnik.
"Our budget is 45 million Swiss francs, which is about $45 million. So far we've got not even a quarter of our budget. That is finance that we really need for the sake of the civilian population, the wounded and detainees," Biber said.
The deficit comes as the Red Cross is scaling up operations in the country, with a focus on food and medical assistance. In addition, the number of displaced Central Africans has risen from 1.2 million to 1.3 million.
"We are really indeed appealing to states and other sources of income to support our increasing operation. I think that the main focus will be on states that are party to the Geneva convention because this is an armed conflict, these are the victims of the armed conflict have right to be protected and to receive the assistance that they require," Biber added.
The conflict in car escalated in December, when armed groups attempted to disrupt the general election, threatening the fragile February 2019 peace deal. Over the past months, the government has significantly advanced in regaining territory from the militias.
