The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned Friday that due to a shortfall of financial assistance and a prolonged civil conflict, 50,000 youngsters in the Central African Republic are at risk from preventable diseases and 1.4 million others vulnerable to HIV transmission.

In its latest donor update, the agency said that less than 20 percent of 6 million U.S. dollars of aid it appealed for the Central African Republic (CAR) had been funded.

"The decade-long armed conflict in the Central African Republic has gravely worsened the well-being and livelihood of children and women throughout the country," UNICEF said.

Although CAR returned to democracy in 2005 following well- conducted legislative and presidential elections, the post- election era has been characterized by increasing violence and insecurity, the agency noted.

"Recently, fighting between the national army and rebels groups, as well as increased banditry, have displaced approximately 50,000 persons inside the country ... most of which are women and children scattered into forests and other safe havens, fearing reprisals from a variety of armed groups," the update said.

Latest assessments indicate a continuous degradation of basic social indicators in the Central African Republic, well below figures from 2000. According to the update, only 37 percent of the country's primary school-age girls attend school and less than 30 percent of its children are immunized against vaccine preventable diseases.

The country's HIV prevalence is estimated at more than 15 percent, the highest in the region, resulting in an increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS, including 110,000 AIDS orphans, the update said. As a result of these conditions, the population in CAR has lost six months of life expectancy every year since 1988.

Source: Xinhua