Communication gaps a key challenge in Central African Republic

Covering the Central African Republic’s humanitarian situation is proving an almost insurmountable challenge for the country’s media

With ransacked radio stations, little to no reliable information, and a lack of trust between media and humanitarian agencies, journalists struggle to provide the population with information on the humanitarian situation, says a new report published by IMS.

Read the full report available in English and French (PDF).

“There seems to be a lack of relay of information to the local media in the sense that humanitarian organisations are too busy working to pay attention to information and communication needs.

“This results in a delay of accessing useful information for news reporting. There needs to be more openness and transparency when dealing with the media,” says the report detailing humanitarian information and communication needs in the conflict-torn country.

Humanitarian information and communication efforts seek to enable communities affected by a disaster or complex emergency to have access to life-saving information while providing them with a means of communication to inform others of their needs and requests.

Ransacked and destroyed radios and a generally poor media infrastructure mean that people outside the capital Bangui have little chance of obtaining reliable information on the situation, says the report:

“With only a handful of potentially working radios, the information is concentrated in Bangui leaving vast areas of the country in the dark and leaving those who most need information without.”

Read the full report available in English and French (PDF).

The crisis in CAR has made it virtually impossible for journalists to do their job as they are unable to move around due to security concerns, found an IMS briefing paper in January. Several sources consulted at the time  said journalists face the same security issues as the population at large, but that some journalists have been targeted in retaliation for reporting. This has resulted in significant self-censorship among the country’s working journalists.

The Central African Republic has been in turmoil since rebels seized power in March 2013. The UN has warned that the country is heading toward a humanitarian disaster, with about 20% of the 4.6 million population having fled their homes.