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Current Requirements (US$)$264.1 million
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Current People Hyper Prioritized0.9 million
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Current Hyper Prioritized Requirements$214.8 million
GHO estimates at launch (8 December 2025)
Crisis overview
Over the last 2 years, the security and humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic has relatively improved in some areas. However, parts of CAR continue to face a serious humanitarian crisis caused by conflicts, floods, disease outbreaks, and regional instability, resulting in over 52,700 Refugees and Asylum Seekers, mainly from Sudan, Chad, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, currently hosted by CAR. In 2026, an estimated 2.3 million people will need humanitarian assistance. This represents a 9% decrease in the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance compared to 2025. This reduction is due to a relative improvement in the overall security situation as well as the focus of the HNRP on vulnerabilities linked to recent shocks with humanitarian consequences, while structural needs are to be addressed by development actors.
Thus, the scope of analysis for the HPC 2026 focused on sub-prefectures affected by 3 main shocks (conflict/insecurity, natural disasters particularly flooding, health emergencies including epidemics) within the last 24 months, and areas where IDPs and/or returnees make up at least 25 per cent of the total population in the area, and localities that host refugees, thereby reducing by 23 per cent the financial asks ($264.2 million) required for the humanitarian response in 2026. The timeline has increased from 12 to 24 months due to the limited scope of the response in 2025, as well as the decrease in funding in 2025.
Central African Republic
Batoul fled her home in June. She told a humanitarian mission that she had received some assistance but could not cultivate her field because of insecurity in her village.
OCHA/Maxime NamaIn 2025, over 45,000 new preventive displacements were recorded in the west, northeast, and southeast of CAR due to clashes between parties to the conflict and attacks against civilians by armed elements. However, there has been a slight decrease (5.8 per cent) in the overall number of IDPs (442,320 as of August 31, 2025) in comparison to December 2024. The decrease in large-scale displacements and improvements in the security conditions are partly linked to the dissolution of several armed groups and ongoing disarmament efforts following the N’Djamena peace agreement. There has also been a progressive reduction in the severity and impacts of flash floods recorded in 2025 (7,800 individuals in 10 sub-prefectures) compared to 2024 (45,900 individuals in 18 sub-prefectures).
However, health systems continue to struggle to respond to vaccine-preventable epidemics such as hepatitis E, Mpox, and Rabies, which cyclically occur especially in areas with poor water and sanitation and are likely to be exacerbated by climate change. Moreover, rising food insecurity has kept overall needs high across 65 sub-prefectures, with one in three Central Africans being acutely food insecure. As of September, nearly 2 million people (29%) faced crisis or emergency levels, and this is expected to rise to 2.3 million (35%) during the 2026 lean season due to poor food access and reduced aid.
In addition, gender-based violence remains widespread, with approximately 10,000 cases reported between January and September 2025—mostly affecting women and girls, including minors. While over 85% of survivors received medical care, coverage dropped to only 20% of the territory compared to 44% in 2024, reflecting the reduced presence of specialized organizations rather than a real improvement in the situation. Finally, explosive and unexploded devices (IEDs and UXOs) pose a threat to civilians and restrict humanitarian access. In 2025, 73 incidents were reported, causing 13 deaths and 28 injuries. Recent cases in the southeast reflect renewed clashes between armed groups and security forces.
Response priorities and financial requirements for 2026
In 2025, 1.8 million people were targeted, but only 720,300 (41 per cent) people were reached by September 30, due to drastic cuts in humanitarian funding. In 2025, the HNRP requested $326.1 million, but by the end of October, only $88.9 million had been received, representing 27% of the financial requirements. The funding shortfalls affected operational capacity in CAR, resulting in the closure of 61 humanitarian bases or programs, drastically reducing the delivery of critical assistance, especially in remote areas. This dire financial reality calls for a shift: prioritizing the most vulnerable based on severity of needs, focusing on quality, accountability, and local leadership.
In 2026, the humanitarian community in CAR will focus on life-saving assistance, protection, and locally driven solutions, reflecting current realities and shaped by community feedback. The response will target 1.3 million (932.2 thousand hyper-prioritised). The 2026 financial appeal is $264.2 million, representing a 19 per cent decrease compared to 2025 ($326.1 million). In regard to the prioritization methodology for the 2026 HNRP, zonal prioritization was based on the results of priority areas identified by the affected communities based on the severity of shocks and community adaptation mechanisms associated with the severity of needs to define the operational priorities by sector. The median of the sectoral operational priorities was used to define the intersectoral operational priorities. Thus, the hyper-prioritised figures (932.2 thousand people) were identified in 47 of the 65 subprefectures covered by the HNRP.
Haut-Mbomou, Central African Republic
Patrick helps his grandmother pound cassava leaves for dinner as they shelter at the Catholic church site for internally displaced people in Zemio. They fled insecurity in Mboki and Djemah in May.
OCHA/Harold NishimagizweIn terms of prioritizing activities, all life-saving activities are considered (OS1 activities) for all clusters except Protection (OS1 and OS2). Humanitarian partners will prioritize essential services based on community needs and feasibility. National NGOs will play a stronger role, with the CAR Humanitarian Fund aiming to increase their share of funding beyond the 30% reached in September 2025 to 35 per cent in 2026. This will help reinforce local leadership, sustainability, and proximity to those most in need.
Community feedback mechanisms, through AAP and local coordination platforms, will guide priorities, monitor progress, and adjust programming in real time. Multi-purpose cash assistance will expand to accessible areas, giving people more flexibility and dignity in meeting their needs. Its rollout will be based on market conditions, security, and community preferences, and linked to sectoral support for greater impact. Coordination will continue to shift toward area-based approaches, promoting decentralization and amplifying the voices of national actors and affected communities, especially outside Bangui. This will make planning more targeted and responsive to actual needs.
Clear priorities will help connect humanitarian aid with longer-term support. Advocacy for funding through durable solutions will ensure that all communities are included in broader strategies aligned with the National Development Plan and the Durable Solutions Strategy. This approach aims to leave no one behind by promoting inclusive programming and long-term support for underserved and hard-to-reach populations.
Central African Republic
2025 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction
Response highlights (January – June 2025)
Humanitarian assistance
Humanitarian assistance reached 720,300 (41 per cent) of the targets (1.8 million) reached, and 552,750 (44 per cent) of the hyper-prioritized people target (Projection based on expected reach of target and hyper-prioritized target for whole 2025).
Gender based violence
43,000 GBV survivors received integrated support. The reported drop in GBV cases, from 16,177 in Jan–Sept 2024 to 10,372 in the same period of 2025, does not reflect an actual improvement. The decrease is largely due to reduced funding, which led to limited geographic coverage, the suspension of services and a significant decline in GBVIMS membership which affected both GBV service delivery and data reporting.
Food
Food assistance supported 376,000 people; 302,000 received protection services; 238,000 IDPs were assisted through CCCM, with local NGOs key in hard-to-reach areas.
Accountability to Affected Population
AAP efforts engaged 36,000 people, trained 720 staff, and registered 19,000 complaints to improve programming.
Sexual exploitation and abuse
The PEAS network trained 3,923 personnel, sensitized 468,599 beneficiaries, and established 2,258 complaint mechanisms to strengthen protection from sexual exploitation and abuse.
Underfunding
Despite efforts, unmet needs remain critical, due to funding cuts which affected operational capacity of humanitarian actors.
CAR Humanitarian Fund
As part of the implementation of the Humanitarian Reset, the CAR Humanitarian Fund has played a key role by supporting locally led initiatives in the north-east and south-east regions and involving national and local actors while putting the communities at the center of the decisions regarding the allocations.
Mbomou, Central African Republic
Internally displaced people attend a mobile clinic in Rafaï after fleeing clashes in their village in June.
OCHA/Arsène NdoyamaConsequences of funding cuts
Underfunding
Funding gaps left 1.2 million people without aid; 61 bases closed, affecting 33 organizations and 600,000 people. 30–40% of children with severe acute malnutrition went untreated. More than 50% of people who have received assistance in at least one sector have only received one-third of the expected assistance. In many locations humanitarian assistance is still the sole source of support to meet the basic needs of vulnerable populations.
Gender based violence
GBV service coverage dropped from 44% to 20%; protection programs suspended in Alindao, Bangassou, and Bria. This situation has led to a significant decrease in the number of organizations participating in the reporting period. Lack of timely provision of GBV services will worsen the existing vulnerabilities for GBV victims especially women and girls who are victims of rape including Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV), thereby increasing the risk of stigmatization, mental health issues and diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
Logistics
In a country where access to affected communities is already a major challenge, funding cuts have left the logistics cluster at just 15 percent of its requirements, further restricting the delivery of timely assistance. These shortfalls forced the closure of warehouses near operational areas and drastically reduced air transport capacity, allowing the cluster to move only half of the planned emergency cargo to hard-to-reach communities.
Vakaga, Central African Republic
Intessar, a Sudanese refugee now in Korsi, lost everything, including her home, during the war. “All I still have is my life, but I lost so many members of my family,” she said.
OCHA/Maxime NamaAccess constraints & attacks against aid workers/facilities
Access constraints and challenges
Significant physical access constraints due to poor road infrastructure and long rainy season limits access.
Explosive devices and mine action
The threat of explosive devices (IEDs) and unexploded remnants (UXOs) also limits humanitarian access. 73 explosive incidents caused 13 deaths and 28 injuries; mine action suspended in Bocaranga and Ngaoundaye.
Aid workers
126 incidents affected aid workers: violence and intimidation rose by 52%.
Attacks against education
Attacks against education persisted: 5 incidents (school occupations, crossfire, forced recruitment) between April and June 2025.
Logistics
In a context where reaching affected communities is already a significant challenge, severe underfunding of the logistics cluster, currently at just 15 percent, has further constrained access. This shortfall led to the closure of warehouses near operational hubs, and limited the cluster’s capacity to transport emergency airfreight, delivering only half of the planned cargo to hard-to-reach areas.
Advancing Localization in the Central African Republic
Under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator for CAR, localization remains a central priority in the humanitarian response in the Central African Republic (CAR), where national and local organizations play a critical role in delivering assistance in hard-to-reach areas. Since 2022, the humanitarian community has worked through a Localization Task Force to strengthen the participation and leadership of national NGOs in coordination structures, while improving their access to funding and capacity development opportunities. A mapping exercise led jointly with national NGO platforms in 2023 and updated in 2024 and 2025 confirmed that national organizations are present in 96% of the territory, demonstrating their central role in response coverage and proximity to affected communities.
The CAR Humanitarian Fund (CAR HF) has significantly increased direct funding to national organizations, from 4% in 2021 to 20% in 2023. In 2024, national NGOs directly implemented half of all CAR HF-funded projects, representing 30% of total allocations ($5.6 million of $18.5 million). The target for 2025 is 35%.
Since 2023, the CAR HF has invested $4 million in six capacity-strengthening initiatives, supporting 16 national organizations, including nine women-led NGOs. These initiatives combine financial support with structured mentoring, allowing experienced national NGOs to coach emerging actors on programme management, financial systems, safeguarding, and accountability. “With the support of the CAR HF, local actors and women-led organizations are being brought back to the center of the humanitarian response. The mentoring model allows us to grow together and strengthen national leadership,” says Samuel Goniwa Ilonga, National Coordinator of APSUD.