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CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

CARE.ACT.SHARE.LIKE CORDAID.

Cordaid, in collaboration with its civil society partners and the Catholic Church, has accumulated thirty years’ worth of experience in the Central African Republic, in long-term development projects as well as in emergency aid. In order to become operational in the CAR, Cordaid decided in 2008 to open offices in Bangui and in Bouar so as to successfully carry out those health programs underpinned by the innovative Results Based Financing (RBF) approach. These health programs have progressively expanded and have been followed up by new activities in the field of education, security and justice, emer-gency aid and food security.

Linking relief and developmentWhere crises are most daunting and complex, we rise to the occasion by linking immediate relief and structural develop-ment. Wherever we can, we combine life saving emergency aid with longer term improvement of:

▪ Security and justice ▪ Healthcare systems ▪ Education ▪ Economic opportunities

» CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC JUNE 2016

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CORDAID IN CAR

YOUR TRUSTED PARTNER FOR OVER 30 YEARS CARE. ACT. SHARE. LIKE CORDAID.

about cordaid

Cordaid strives to end poverty and exclusion. We do this in the world’s most fragile and conflict-affected areas as well as in the Netherlands. We engage local communities to rebuild trust and resilience and increase people’s self-reliance. Our professionals provide humanitarian assistance and create opportunities to improve security, healthcare and education and stimulate inclusive economic growth. We are supported by 288,000 private donors in the Netherlands and by a worldwide partner network. This gives us the leverage and implementing power to solve problems and create structural change in the most challenging settings.

caritas internationalis

Cordaid is a founding member of Caritas Internationalis, a confedera-tion of over 160 catholic humanita-rian organizations. Together we are on the ground, around the world, reaching out to the poor, vulnerable and ex-cluded, regardless of race and religion.

contact

Remco van der VeenProgram DirectorBP 164402500 BK The HagueThe Netherlands

+31(0)70-3136300cordaid@cordaid.org www.cordaid.org/en/

FACTS AND FIGURES

15 million eurosThe cumulative total of Cordaid’s programs in the CAR

since 2010

28 Active programs, of which more than half are in the

health sector

19Institutional donors that have entrusted us (World Bank group,

UNICEF, Bêkou Fund, IMC/DFID, The Dutch Ministry of Foreign

Affairs, the French Embassy, the Global Partnership for Education,

FICR/FM, etc.)

78 Cordaid CAR employees, including 7 expatriates

“  Cordaid encouraged us to embrace more innovative approaches in our partnership with the EU, in particular in fragile states and Sub-Saharan Africa.”Cyrill Muller, Vice-President of External and Corporate

Relations, World Bank Group

After being confronted with a major political and humanitarian crisis, the Central African Republic currently faces nume-rous challenges, including the restoration of basic structures such as healthcare, justice, education and security. Cordaid has been present in the country for over three decades. Together with our partners we know how to quickly adapt to local communities’ needs and emergencies.

More transparency, more impactCordaid attaches great importance to transparency, as sharing information and knowledge improves the quality and impact of our work. This is why Cordaid is in the Steering Committee of the International Aid Transparency Initiative. And why all our project-related information can be found on www.cordaid.org, in full compliance with IATI standards. We invite all aid professionals and concerned citizens to follow up on what we do and help us improve.

Innovation via Results Based Financing (RBF)Cordaid successfully introduced Performance Based Financing for healthcare in African and Asian countries. This innovative method, which finances pre-agreed results of medical service providers, builds in checks and balances, motivates personnel and gives communities and end users a crucial monitoring role, has become a standard for many aid agencies and governments. We are now expanding our RBF approach to improve educational systems and justice and security sectors in conflict-affected settings.

A SAMPLE OF OUR PARTNERS IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Your implementing partnerCordaid’s capillary networks and longstanding partner relations allow us to mobilize local, national and international forces of social change. We work in the tiniest villages of South Sudan and Afghanistan, as well as in the world’s centers of decision making. We connect citizens, NGOs, companies and governments to build a world that is fair and sustainable. We have the implementing power to tackle poverty and injustice. To expand our work for the world’s most vulnerable people, we are constantly searching for new partnerships. Therefore we welcome any partnering opportunity with companies and foundations that share our mission. Whether you are an investor or a grants-based organization, if your goal is to achieve lasting social impact, we invite you to become our strategic partner or support the Cordaid Foundation. Let’s work together, for more justice and solidarity and less human suffering, in places where it is most needed.

Simone Filippini, Cordaid CEO

Resilient communitiesTo catalyze real change, we empower local communities to set their own development agendas. We mobilize the private sector, pressure local governments and international decision makers to change policies and provide public services that are more responsive to community needs. As women, entrepre-neurs and youth are change makers par excellence, we support them to expand their leadership roles in establishing peace and prosperity.

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Alleviate suffering in humanitarian emergenciesIn close collaboration with the Caritas network, Cordaid set up humanitarian aid programs in order to alleviate the suffering of

thousands of people, including the internally displaced. Our humanitarian and emergency aid programs focus on those regions most torn up by the conflict, including prefectures in Ouham-Pende (Bozoum, Bocaranga) and Bangui. As the primary recipient of the CAR Joint Program, financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cordaid plays a frontline role in the coordination of Dutch NGOs’ emergency responses. These activities aim to strengthen the sectors of food security, liveliho-od sustainability, water, sanitation & hygiene (WASH), nutrition and protection.

Preventing renewed violence by involving communities in sustainable peace processes

Cordaid is actively engaged in peace, justice and reconciliation dialogues. As such, in 2014, Cordaid launched a social cohesion program answering the

urgent need to rebuild trust in interpersonal relations both within and between communities in Bangui, Bozoum, Bossangoa and Kaga Bandoro. Amongst other aspects, this program emphasized psychological recovery, advocacy for peace and inter-religious dialogue. For instance, the operation of radio programs, in collaboration with the Archbishop and Grand Imam of Bangui, and including young generations of Muslims and Christians, allowed us to restore and strengthen a dialogue for peace.

Bringing children back to school and motivating teaching staff

Although education in CAR is free and mandatory for those aged 6 to 14, an estimated 67% of the population (of which 75% are women) is illiterate. Access to quality

education, for both boys and girls, is a cornerstone of sustai-nable development. This is why, since 2010, Cordaid has provided support to primary education in CAR. In 2013, Cordaid implemented an emergency transition plan (2014-2017) to guarantee a quality, basic education to each and every child, starting with the most vulnerable. The introduction of Results Based Financing (RBF) allowed not only for an improvement in education services, but also a distinct improvement in the number of children going to school. During the 2014-2015 school year, 141 schools under a RBF contract (which amounts to 10% of all schools in the country), granted access to education to 60,000 underprivileged children. Of those 45% were young girls (approximately 13% of the country’s primary-school aged children), including children form vulnerable groups such as the Pygmy and Fula populations. Increasingly motivated teachers returned to their workplace, allowing for the swift re-opening of schools and a drop in absenteeism rates. Finally, RBF allowed for schools to be run in a more entrepreneurial manner, emphasising on local needs and encouraging stu-dents’ parents to play a greater role in the definition of educa-tional priorities.

Providing care no matter whatRecent bouts of violence have heavily affected the already fragile healthcare facilities in the CAR. However, a May 2014 evaluation showed that the RBF system allowed health centres in Nana Mambéré to remain operational and serve the popula-tion during the 2013/2014 crisis. As such, Bouar’s main hospital shut its doors only for a few days, re-opening them swiftly when the fighting was at its highest. Other healthcare facilities that did not have a RBF contract took much longer to resume their activities. Similarly, with the direct support of Assomesca’s ecumenical network to regional depots, Cordaid was able to stave off conflict-induced stock shortaged and maintain medication stock levels at 84% in health centres in the Bossangoa and Bangassou regions during the August 2015 to February 2016 period.

Strengthening health systems and allowing the young generation to make informed choices

The CAR government’s health budget is too meagre to answer to the basic health needs of its population. Outside of the capital,

prenatal and postnatal care for pregnant women, as well as sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, are almost entirely lacking. It is for these reasons that in 2009, Cordaid set up a pilot program seeking to improve access to affordable, quality healthcare, using Results Based Financing, RBF (see box page 4). The program was launched in region 2, around Bouar (Nana Mambéré), and was then extended to regions 1 (Ombella M’poko and Lobaye) and 6 (Lower-Kotto, Mbomou). Over 140 health centres and 11 hospitals were able to benefit from the program, with very positive results, such as a heighte-ned access to medication and medical equipment, a decrease in medical staff’s absenteeism rates and an increase in health facilities’ attendance rates. In the end, the patient satisfaction rate rose to 75%, as did the rate of qualified health staff (External evaluation of the Fonds Békou/EU project, performed between May 2015 and May 2016, Bangassou and Bossangoa regions).

OUR MULTI-SECTORAL IMPRINT ON CAR TERRITORY A FEW OF OUR RESULTS IN 2015

214 624Curative medical consultations

carried out

29 816 Pregnant women counselled and

tested for HIV, including their

partners

155 000 Aid beneficiaries of CAR’s Joint

Humanitarian Response project

60 000Underprivileged children who

returned to school

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Hospital of Bouar, Cordaid

Right and access to Sexual & Reproductive Health (SRH) The Central African Republic has a sad track record: its teenage pregnancy rate is the highest in the world. Out of 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19, 229 are or have already been pregnant. In view of this, Cordaid was chosen by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to set up a wide-ranging program called Jeune S3 (Santé, Sexualité and Sécurité), promo-ting sexual and reproductive health amongst the youth in the period 2016-2020. Heading a nine-partner alliance, Cordaid addresses a major challenge in the country’s most fragile regions: granting young teenagers, specifically young girls aged 10 to 14, access to quality information on sexual and reproductive health allowing them to make free and informed choices.

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Bogoula, food security by Caritas/Cordaid

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From left to right: Imam Layame, Cordaid CEO Filippini and Archbishop Nzapalainga.

Peace2WinInitiated by Cordaid CAR in 2015, the primary objective of the Peace2Win program is to bring back confidence to young Central Africans, and induce them to play a proactive role in the promotion of peace within their communities. To do this, Cordaid uses various peace education and awareness-raising methods: participa-tory theatre, athletic competitions, cultural games, etc. This way we create new safe spaces and facilitate trauma healing by renewing contact with other young people. From the very first day the of course, sport revealed itself as a powerful tool for peace. It took less than 10 minutes for young Christians and Muslims, whose different neighbourhoods had been fighting one another for years, to play side by side and have fun on the soccer field!

Rule of Law

Healthcare

Education

Vocational &professional training

Humanitarian Aid

Haut-mbomou

Mbomou

Ouaka

Ouham

Ombella-mpoko

Haute-kotto

Vakaga

Bamingui-Bangoran

Nana-Grebizi

Kemo

Lobaye

Sangha-mbaere

Mambere-kadei

Nana-mambere

Ouham-pende

Basse-kotto

South Sudan

Sudan(Darfur)

Cameroon

Cameroon

Congo

Tchad

Democratic Republic of Congo

Bozoum

Bangui

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