The humanitarian crisis in the Central Africa Republic erupted in 2014, due to onset violence between armed groups, aggravated by the fact that the country has the lowest human development index in the world and very weak institutions. To this day, half the population is in need of humanitarian aid. Since 2017, the total number of internally displaced people and refugees has increased significantly. A quarter of the population (about 1.2 million people) is forcibly displaced, either inside the country or in neighbouring countries.

The crisis also affects neighbouring countries with some 573,000 Central African refugees mainly in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad. Their prolonged stay puts pressure on the local populations who are hosting them and on already scarce resources. That is why the EDF is also delivered in these countries to both host populations and Central African refugees.