UN Agencies hope Pope Francis visit will help CAR

(Vatican Radio) United Nations agencies working in the Central African Republic say they are hoping the upcoming visit will help promote reconciliation in the country, and also allow for access to humanitarian assistance by the population, especially the most vulnerable.

“The violence that has plagued this country has had a devastating impact on the lives of children,” said Mohamed Fall, UNICEF’s Representative in the Central African Republic.

“The humanitarian needs are overwhelming, to meet them we need access and we need greater international support.”

UNICEF estimates that more than two million children have been affected by the violence which first broke out in December 2012.

There are half a million refugees who have fled the Central African Republic since that time, and nearly 400,000 people remain displaced within the country.

Renewed fighting in September created an additional 39,000 internally displaced people in Bangui, the capital.

"The recent instability is all the more disheartening because it came after relative peace appeared to be returning this year to CAR, especially in urban areas. Before the latest violence, the trends indicated that displaced people were going back to their homes," said Leo Dobbs, the spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The UN Refugee Agency has urged Central African Republic's warring groups to take the opportunity of Pope Francis's scheduled visit to Bangui this weekend to rebuild the national reconciliation process.

A song for peace, written and sung by children, has been playing on radio stations ahead of the Pope’s arrival. The song’s lyrics, which call for national unity and an end to the fighting, were submitted by three children in response to a UNICEF-organized competition with the leading radio broadcaster in the country, Radio Ndeke Luka. Three other children were selected to perform the song.

“We are hopeful that the voices of these children will be heard, and that the Pope’s visit to CAR will promote reconciliation, in a country that is in desperate need of peace,” said UNICEF’s Mohamed Fall.