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Central African Republic: Investing in the Implementation of the?Political?Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation

Since the start of the civil war triggered by the 2013 coup d’Etat, the Central African Republic has struggled to bring a definitive end to armed rebellions and recurrent violence. The most recent peace agreement, the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in the Central African Republic (APPR-RCA in its French acronym), signed in 2019, gradually enabled pockets of stability. However, a new coalition of armed groups signatories of the Political Agreement led by former President Bozizé was created in 2020 and continues to exacerbate security and humanitarian crises in several parts of the country. The UN and other international partners have continued to support the Government’s efforts to implement the 2019 Political Agreement as well as the Luanda joint road map for peace of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), recognizing that sustained engagement is the only way to create a conducive environment for the full implementation of the peace agreement.

The UN Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) has invested $51 million to support the implementation of the APPR, notably focusing on strengthening women and youth engagement in the process at the community level.?For instance, between 2019 and 2021, the PBF provided funding for the 51吃瓜 Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), the 51吃瓜 Population Fund (UNFPA), the 51吃瓜 Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), and Search for Common Ground to collaborate with the government and communities to promote a deeper understanding of the Peace Agreement's implementation and oversight process and revive community bonds that had been severed during the conflict.

The project provided training to women and youth in Bangui, Bambari, Bangassou, and Paoua, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to elevate their roles as peace agents and community leaders. More than 300 young participants took proactive initiatives by engaging with fellow youth in their neighborhoods. They organized discussions on peace and the agreement, collaborated with local peace committees and actively sought their involvement in identifying tensions. These community leaders utilized their mediation training to prevent violence within their neighborhoods, for instance, during the tense 2020 elections.

A young man mentioned that he had personally intervened and succeeded in preventing violent clashes between small groups in their neighborhoods, thanks to the mediation skills, network and positive visibility he had gained through the project.
A young volunteer in Paoua said, “this is the first time in our locality that a project has recruited, trained and paid exclusively young people and women from the community to carry out social cohesion and peacebuilding activities. We are used to situations where staff are recruited from elsewhere to come and solve our problems, often without even consulting us. In the case of this project, everything was different.

In this way, the project contributed to fostering community reconciliation within the targeted regions. This not only enabled people to experience the positive outcomes of peace following the Agreement’s signing but also gave young individuals from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds the opportunity to develop their abilities as agents of peace in their communities. Both women and youth were recognized as drivers of positive change and advocates of national reconciliation.

One young woman highlighted that the experience had been life-changing for her and helped her harness leadership qualities she did not previously know she had. She said, “Thanks to the project, people in my community got to know me and chose me to be second vice president of the community council.”

Search for Common Ground led the advocacy work in close collaboration with the Ministry of Communication and Media as well as MINUSCA’s Strategic Information and Communication Unit. This involved running a media campaign to produce and promote content related to the peace agreement. To ensure widespread dissemination, the project utilized six community radio stations and conducted consultation workshops with almost 1,000 participants, including 274 women to facilitate information sharing on issues related to APPR as well as other recovery mechanisms including the National Plan for Recovery and Consolidation Plan (RCPCA).

By providing technical training and assistance to around 85 people, with 45% women, the project elevated the skills of technicians and community radio personnel in developing strategic messages on the peace agreement and upkeeping radio equipment. ?

Recognizing the critical role of media professionals in the successful implementation and monitoring of the Political Agreement, additional efforts were made to enrich their capabilities through dedicated training sessions on fact-checking and countering misinformation. According to an evaluation by Search for Common Ground, the level of false information and hate speech content on the trained community radio stations decreased from 50% to 19% and 13% respectively. This holistic approach aimed to reinforce Central African radio and television programming, while also empowering community radio stations to devise new program schedules centered around initiatives that foster peace and social cohesion.

UNFPA and UN Women in partnership with MINUSCA, the Ministry of Humanitarian Action and National Reconciliation, the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, the Family and Child Protection, and the Ministry of Youth and Employment directed their focus towards integrating the needs of women and youth in the process of popularizing, implementing and monitoring the Agreement. This effort included engaging young people, including women addressing issues such as gender-based violence, employment and vocational training, health, education and sports, in a participatory analysis. The insights gathered informed two symposia, one dedicated to young people and the other to women. These resulted in memorandums submitted to Government officials. Additionally, a roadmap developed and shared with national authorities and partners aimed at advancing the participation of women and youth in public affairs and the political process.

Platforms created for dialogue within youth centers and women’s centers fostered discussions among women, young people, and their peer representatives. These sessions facilitated recommendations directed towards the entities responsible for implementing the Peace Agreement. As a result, for example, the project contributed to the designation of one youth and five women among the 11 members of the Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Reparation.

The peacebuilding project?empowered around 300 representatives from women’s and youth organizations by providing training on citizen monitoring of public activities, including the implementation and monitoring of the peace agreement. This enabled them to effectively communicate peace agreement content and mechanisms for recovery and peacebuilding within communities.

A young woman explained that the project had helped her and her peers develop a close interest in political and civic life and an understanding of the positive role they can play in that realm, “the project gave me the courage to engage in discussions and decisions about peace in the country”.

The PBF has invested $118 million in the Central African Republic since 2008 and played a crucial role in supporting the country’s efforts to advance the peace process and recover from conflict. The Fund has helped in jumpstarting the rehabilitation of public and civic services, addressing urgent needs in the security sector and community security, promoting reconciliation, and facilitating lasting solutions for displaced populations.