Locally-led solutions protect children now and tomorrow

Central African Republic | 2024 | CBPF

Central African Republic, Birao. In Birao, Vakaga Prefecture, people have faced years of armed violence and intercommunal conflict. For more than a decade, violence and the effects of climate change, are driving displacement across the country.

Displaced people and their host communities are dealing with poor infrastructure and a lack of economic opportunities. In the upheaval, women face violence. Children are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, and recruitment as soldiers.  And people are hungry. Food is scarce, and expensive.

For Zakya, a 45-year-old mother, the conflict claimed her husband’s life and left her alone to care for her teenaged daughter. Armed groups burned their home, and hunger drove her daughter to make money any way she could, however unsafe. “I had no means to care for her,” Zakya recalls.

Nassir, a father of two, saw his children recruited by armed groups. With limited access to education and food, Nassir feared for their future. “I had no way to support my children, and they left school to join armed groups. It felt as though I had lost them,” Nassir explains.

EPHPHATHA, a Central African NGO, is leading a protection and food security project, with funding from the CAR Humanitarian Fund.

Zakya received tools and training that allowed her to start a small business selling doughnuts and peanut oil. “Now, I can provide for my daughter, and she no longer has to leave home hungry,” says Zakya.

Her daughter also accessed counselling, to help her move on from the dark period in her life.

Similarly, Nassir’s two children, who had been recruited into armed groups, were identified and reintegrated within the community and are now able to return to school. The family received some goats to support their food security – providing some milk and cheese to eat, and a bit to sell, too.

“With this support, my children are back in school, and we have the means to support ourselves,” Nassir shares proudly.

By supporting people’s immediate needs and helping them plan and build for the future, EPHPHATHA is helping to address the worst effects of conflict on this community.

Published November 2024

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