An update from our team in Central African Republic

The following post was written by Sébastien Porter, Invisible Children’s Project Officer in Central African Republic.

Last month, Invisible Children CAR staff was dispersed all over the Central African Republic (CAR) making things happen.

Guillaume Cailleaux, Project Coordinator, and Sébastien Porter, Project Officer, met with Invisible Children’s Regional Ambassador Jolly Okot, in Bangui, Central African Republic.

This trip was the first time Jolly was able to visit the country since the alarming coup by Seleka, a conglomeration of rebels from the North, which took place this past March. Seeing the appalling living conditions, children sleeping on the streets at night, lack of running water, frequent electricity outages, and occasional gun shots gave her a taste of how Central Africans live on a daily basis.

As always, this didn’t stop strong-minded Jolly who led the trio to many meetings where she advocated the need for the government to pay attention to the security in southeast CAR where the LRA operates. These meetings were also an opportunity to collect the thoughts of various actors who can make a difference in the field but don’t often cooperate. Groups included: African Union, BINUCA (UN office tackling the LRA issue in CAR), Ministry of Security, OCHA (UN office for the coordination of human affairs), and the European Union Commission.

This lack of cooperation is a source of concern as the LRA continues to occupy territories beyond the reach of the Ugandan forces and US advisors. Protection programs, such as defection efforts and the extension of the Early Warning System (EWS), can only be achieved through coordination with actors in Bangui. This is paramount to reach the objective of #zeroLRA.

In addition to attending these meetings, other members of Invisible Children CAR staff were making the most out of the time in Zemio (Southeastern CAR) where our Local Protection Committee, composed of influential members of the community, had just completed building their HF radio.

Early Warning System Assistant, Joseph Bowo, and HF technician, Arthur Zoungabe, met with the committee for an in-depth training on how to operate the radio, utilize satellite phones, and report incidents accurately. The HF radio was installed, and newly written operation manuals were distributed.

Over the past months, Invisible Children CAR deployed an Early Warning System connected by a series of ‘mini-hubs’ (HF Radios) each linked to several ‘cells’ (satellites phones). This guarantees flexibility that a small communication device can offer and fewer risks for our volunteers on the ground related to looting – ultimately increasing their security while participating in the Early Warning System.

Some mini-hubs like Dembia or Rafaï, with no prior evaluation, required a different approach due to the urgency of reporting LRA incidents. Chosen by their communities, two HF operators were provided and trained with satellite phones. They represent the first steps leading to the installation of HF radios and Local Protection Committee. In the meanwhile, they will still have the means of communication to report incidents in their vicinity.

To date, our dedicated team has set up warning devices in around 50% of pre-identified locations. Although Invisible Children’s progress in CAR is steady – despite the tumultuous political situation – a lot remains to be done. There is no half way to #zeroLRA.