Humanitarian Aid in CAR Often Targets Camps Rather Than the Poorest People

A new World Bank study has raised concerns that social assistance in the Central African Republic (CAR) is not always reaching the country’s poorest people. The research, conducted by the World Bank’s Fiscal Policy and Growth Global Department with data from institutions including UNHCR, IOM, OECD, ACLED, and CAR’s national statistics agency ICASEES, found that aid is mainly directed toward people living in displacement camps rather than households facing the worst poverty.

The study examined how humanitarian support is distributed in a country struggling with years of violence, displacement, and extreme poverty. CAR remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than 70 percent of its population living below the poverty line and hundreds of thousands displaced by conflict.

Researchers warn that the current aid system focuses more on displacement status than on actual economic need, leaving many poor families outside camps with limited support.

Camp Residents Receive Far More Support

Using detailed household survey data from 2021, researchers compared three groups: non-displaced households, displaced households living outside camps, and displaced households living inside camps.

The findings showed a major gap in assistance. Around 85 percent of people living in IDP camps received some form of social assistance, compared with only about 42 percent of households outside camps.

The difference was even larger for food assistance and support programs for pregnant women and young children.

While people in camps were generally poorer on average, the study found significant overlap between groups. Some families living outside camps were poorer than camp residents but still received less support. In fact, camp residents in the highest consumption group were more than twice as likely to receive aid as extremely poor households outside camps.

Researchers said this highlights a major weakness in the system: aid is being distributed by category rather than by poverty level.

Poverty Alone Does Not Decide Who Gets Help

One of the study’s most important findings is that poorer households were not necessarily more likely to receive aid.

Researchers found little evidence that families with lower consumption levels had better chances of getting assistance. In some cases, households that were slightly better off were actually more likely to benefit.

The report argues that this happens because camps are easier for humanitarian agencies to reach and organize. Delivering assistance inside camps is logistically simpler than identifying poor households spread across rural communities or urban neighborhoods.

But the study says this approach risks excluding some of the country’s most vulnerable people, especially displaced families who no longer live in camps.

Long-Term Aid May Encourage Dependence

The report also explored whether current aid systems unintentionally encourage people to remain in camps for long periods.

Researchers compared households displaced for more than four years with newer arrivals and found that long-term camp residents were more likely to continue receiving social assistance, especially food aid.

However, these long-term residents were not always more vulnerable. Many had slightly better housing conditions, owned more basic assets such as radios, and were more likely to have working-age men in the household.

The study also found that most working-age camp residents were still economically active, mainly in agriculture and small service activities. This suggests camp life does not completely prevent employment.

Still, researchers warned that assistance systems providing long-term support without encouraging self-reliance could create dependency and reduce incentives for families to leave camps.

Study Calls for Smarter Targeting of Aid

To test alternatives, researchers simulated what would happen if aid were distributed strictly according to poverty levels rather than displacement status.

The results showed that this approach would not significantly reduce overall poverty, as poverty is already widespread across CAR. However, it would significantly reduce the depth and severity of poverty by directing resources toward the country’s poorest households.

The study concludes that humanitarian agencies and governments need more integrated systems that identify vulnerable people regardless of whether they live inside or outside camps.

Researchers also recommend designing assistance programs that support self-reliance while continuing to protect households facing serious hardships.

As global humanitarian funding becomes increasingly limited, the report argues that aid programs must move beyond simply helping displaced people and focus more directly on reaching the poorest people wherever they live.