Central African Republic: Supporting the media and humanitarian information and communication in a complex emergency

Central  African  journalists  have  been  risking  their  lives  as  they  try  to  inform  their  compatriots  in what are arguably some  of  the  worst  security  and  technical  conditions.  Even  prior  to  the  current conflict, CAR media faced challenging circumstances. IREX reported in its Media Sustainability Index that: “Media professionals in the Central African Republic continue to subsist despite deteriorating working  conditions,  meager  operating  budgets,  dilapidated  facilities,  and  technical  barriers  to disseminating their reporting. They face government tactics of harassment, suspensions, and other deterrents, particularly in relation to the country’s persisting problems of corruption and banditry in
the southeast.

Due to the challenges in getting accurate information of the sector’s needs and the importance ofbringing  together  key  stakeholders, IMS and  Institute  Panos  Europe (IPE) organised a two-day roundtable in Yaoundé, Cameroon in February 2014 address the needs of the media and humanitarian information and communication sectors in CAR.