A convoy of 14 humanitarian aid trucks from the United Nations arrived in Bangui on 8 February under the escort of UN peacekeepers after a 50-day blockade of the Central African Republic capital by armed groups.
The Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) has given its authorisation for the “exceptional and temporary” use of the Garoua-Bouali road for humanitarian workers.
The authorisation has been the subject of intense negotiations between humanitarian organisations and the rebels supported by former president François Bozizé.
The armed rebel groups still control two thirds of the territory.
Since December 17, they had cut off the Garoua-Bouali road that allows the supply of food to Bangui from Cameroon.
That move was intended to asphyxiate the Central African capital.
According to a recent study by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 2.8 million Central Africans, or 57 percent of the population, will need humanitarian assistance and protection.
Nearly three-quarters (1.9 million people) are in “acute need” of aid.
CD/lb/as/APA