With the Bêkou Trust Fund coming to an end, and the beginning of a new phase of cooperation between the European Union and the Central African Republic, the ‘Bêkou Trust Fund’ workshop in Bangui on 24 November 2021 will be an opportunity to:
- review the activities supported by the Bêkou Trust Fund and its partners;
- identify lessons about the Bêkou Trust Fund as an innovative European Commission tool for working in fragile contexts;
- identify key aspects to be improved in projects supported by the European Commission in CAR, and in other Nexus contexts.
This is part of a lesson-sharing approach that began in 2016 at the first Bêkou workshop organised by Groupe URD and the European Commission.
The Bêkou Trust Fund (‘Hope’ in the Sango language)
The first European Trust Fund, the Bêkou Trust Fund was created following the 2013 crisis in the Central African Republic with the aim of giving people access to essential services (water and sanitation, food, healthcare, etc.) and, once security was re-established, promoting economic recovery. It aims to contribute to the stabilisation and reconstruction of CAR by improving the articulation between reconstruction/development programmes on the one hand, and the humanitarian response on the other (Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development). By accompanying the most vulnerable people and supporting national reconciliation, the programmes funded by the Bêkou Trust Fund lay the foundations of sustainable and inclusive development.