Remaining one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world and one of the most fragile countries, the CAR has 63% of its 5 million inhabitants in need of humanitarian assistance, including 2.2 million with acute needs, figures on the rise since 2014 with a seesaw evolution since 2019. Faced with the constant resurgence of armed conflicts and the search for better living conditions, to date, 658,000 Central Africans are internally displaced persons (IDPs) - peaking at 742,000 in 2021 and at least 60% of them women - and more than 738,000 have sought refuge in neighboring countries.

This complex crisis, which combines political, security, humanitarian, and social crisis, has led to a profound deterioration of national and community structures and infrastructures and requires increased efforts to ensure that the population has the ability to meet their basic needs, access basic social services base, and live dignified lives. Women, because of the additional factors of their vulnerability, continue to pay the highest price and carry an additional burden on their household, community and country level, in the absence of holistic and sustainable solutions to the crisis. These challenges are compounded with existing gender discriminations perpetuated by socio-cultural norms.

UN Women began operating in Central African Republic (CAR) since July 2015 as a Program Presence and became a full country office in 2021, to support the Central African authorities in advancing gender equality and women's empowerment as well as providing a multisectoral response to the specific needs of women in times of crisis for the implementation of the recommendations made by women during the Forum of Bangui in May 2015.

UN Women CAR prioritizes initiatives and programs in areas that are fundamental to women's equality and can contribute to the progress and development of gender equality both in humanitarian and development context. Its current projects and programmes focus on:

• Governance & Participation in Public Life
• Women’s Economic Empowerment
• Women, Peace and Security, Humanitarian Action, and Disaster Risk Reduction
• Ending Violence Against Women

Since the start of its operations in CAR, UN Women has been able to positively influence gender mainstreaming in the country through successfully implementing its coordination mandate. The Office has been chairing the UN Gender Thematic Group, participating to the gender and humanitarian thematic group, while participating in other thematic working group within the UN Country team. UN Women CAR also serves as the knowledge hub and leading agency on strategic support and advice to United Nations country teams in enhancing gender mainstreaming efforts in the country.