After decades of political instability, poor governance and successive crises, the Central African Republic (CAR) went through a severe crisis between 2013 and 2015. Violent clashes between armed groups against a backdrop of sectarian conflicts generated the displacement of over 400,000 people throughout the country, and led to several thousand victims.
The city of Bangui bears the scars of these ethnico-denominational conflicts, which resulted in social and spatial fractures. Neighbourhoods that were formerly mixed in ethnical and denominational terms, such as Miskine and Sara/Yakité, have completely changed, and a large portion of the Muslim population took refuge in one part of the city, in particular the neighbourhoods of Kilometre 5.
This is the context in which the Project for economic and social reconstruction in urban areas (Presu) was launched. With funding of 11.6 million euros provided by the European Union’s multi-donor Bêkou Trust Fund for CAR, this project aims to facilitate the improvement of living conditions and the economic reconstruction of households taking a labour intensive public works approach. Presu must also enable the return of public action in precarious neighbourhoods in Bangui that were particularly affected by the crisis.
In 2018, in partnership with Central African NGO Nourrir, GRET launched a social support mission for the implementation of this project in the field. The GRET/Nourrir group will ensure urban and social project management of Presu, by providing information and raising populations’ awareness, managing any conflicts and supporting businesses with recruitment of local labourers.
