In June 2008, the government and armed opposition groups signed a global peace accord. The ensuing calm was brief. The Armée populaire pour la Restauration de la République et la Démocratie (APRD) withdrew from the agreement, on the grounds that it had been excluded from the amnesty arrangements. Fighting flared up between government forces and the APRD at the end of August, especially in the area of Paoua. The resumption of hostilities forced people to flee their homes once again and discouraged those who had already left from returning to their villages.

The ICRC has continued to monitor the humanitarian situation in order to provide the best possible protection and assistance.

In the fields of economic security and health, the ICRC has concentrated on areas that other humanitarian agencies are not covering.

Unfortunately, the poor state of the roads and the long rainy season have made it impossible to reach certain areas.

The aim of the ICRC’s protection activities is to ensure respect for the well-being of the entire civilian population. The organization maintains contacts with all arms bearers, reminding them of their obligation to protect civilians and civilian objects.

People deprived of their freedom

The ICRC makes regular visits to people in places of detention, both in Bangui and in the provinces.

Between June and August 2008, the ICRC:

• visited 489 detainees (monitoring the situations of 49 of them individually) during 28 visits to 15 places of detention (prisons, police stations, police posts and gendarmerie facilities);
• distributed 16 Red Cross messages to detainees and 93 to civilians (109 in all) and collected 4 messages from detainees and 67 from civilians (a total of 71). The aim of this exchange of messages is to enable separated families to remain in contact.

Economic security

The security situation has been making it difficult for people in zones affected by fighting to obtain either seed or basic necessities. The ICRC has therefore been distributing basic household items, seed, agricultural supplies and food in the regions of Paoua, Kaga Bandoro and Birao.

Between June and August 2008, the ICRC:

• supplied blankets, plastic sheeting, kitchen utensils, cloth for clothing, soap and mosquito nets to 2,411 households (7,913 individuals) in Ngéréndomo (Birao), Mbéréguili, Kossé, Bilakaré (Paoua) and Sido (Kaga Bandoro);
• distributed 48.6 tonnes of maize meal, 20 tonnes of seed, 4,000 litres of oil and 3,614 hoes to 1,810 households (8,040 individuals);
• repaired and distributed 50 carts.

Water and sanitation

Access to drinking water and health care remains difficult, especially in the areas affected by the conflict. The ICRC is encouraging communities to participate in its programmes, with the aim that they should feel involved in the projects.

Activities between June and August 2008:

• the ICRC provided Bangui community hospital with a 165 kVA generator (plus maintenance kits) and surgical supplies (medicines and consumables) for the treatment of the 360 patients in the hospital;
• 41 volunteers from the Central African Red Cross Society carried out hygiene-promotion activities in over 200 villages in the north of the country, having been trained and equipped by the ICRC;
• 22 latrine and shower blocks were built in schools and health centres, along with 423 individual latrines;
• in Vakaga, the ICRC trained technicians from the Central African Red Cross Society in how to improve traditional wells by converting them into tubed wells; these technicians have now started work on improving six such wells;
• 8 natural springs have been protected and 12 traditional wells converted into tubed wells in the prefectures of Nana Grébizi, Ouham and Ouham Pendé, benefiting 10,000 people;
• 10 villages have received new wells with manual pumps and similar work is under way in 12 others; 485 families in Ngaoundaye (in the north-west of the country) who have suffered the consequences of the conflict have received materials for rebuilding or strengthening their homes;
• the ICRC has renovated the existing health facilities in the remote village of Am Dafok, bringing high-quality basic health care to some 5,000 people, the majority of them women and children.

The ICRC handed over the water and sanitation programme in the prefectures of Basse-Kotto and Mboumou to the Central African Red Cross Society at the end of June 2008. The ICRC will continue to supervise work that was already under way in these two prefectures.

To support its protection and assistance activities, the delegation promotes knowledge of international humanitarian law (IHL) and publicizes the ICRC’s modus operandi, especially among arms bearers operating in conflict zones.

Between June and August 2008, the ICRC:

• held 10 events to raise awareness of IHL and the work of the ICRC at 12 locations in the north of the country; these were attended by 140 arms bearers;
• handed out almost 2,000 copies of publications on the work of the ICRC and the Central African Red Cross Society;
• organized a conference in Bangui on customary law for 160 persons involved in the practice of law (magistrates, lawyers, law professors, researchers and students);
• held an information session for the peace and security group of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa.

The ICRC supports the Central African Red Cross Society by boosting its ability to help those in need.

Between June and August 2008, the ICRC:

• supported two training sessions for first-aid instructors involving volunteers from 23 branches of the Society in Ouham, Ouham Pendé, Nana-Grébizi and Vakaga and provided 130 dossards and 560 sets of first aid supplies to branches of the Society;
• supplied a 30 kVA generator for the headquarters of the Society in Bangui;
• conducted a joint assessment with the National Society of the functioning of first-aid teams and the management of equipment in Bangui’s borough committees.