The ‘Laboratoire de dialogue centrafricain’ project

In order to meet this objective and re-establish trust between civil society and institutions, the project is based on two main components:

• Promoting and facilitating access to information

Access to information is a challenge in the Central African Republic. Not because there is a lack of information, but rather that it is not easily accessed. Written documentation about the country is scattered between different archives within CAR and in other countries, such as France. There is a danger that some of this information could disappear. In some cases, only one example of research papers is left, and this is true for many different disciplines. It is essential that this knowledge is preserved, both by scanning the documents and establishing an online database, and by making paper copies that could be consulted in locations that are yet to be determined. Access to these documents and the information that they contain will help to feed into the dialogue between stakeholders.

• Organising a series of debates on four main topics

In order to improve and reinforce dialogue between civil society and political and economic decision-makers, a platform will be created to organise constructive debates. The objective of this experimental approach is to help civil society to propose solutions while increasing its ability to be heard and its credibility. Working with Central African organisations, the project has identified four main topics: youth, the environment, transhumance and health. Each of these deliberately broad and cross-cutting topics will be the object of studies which will then be used to frame an initial series of debates.