Central African Republic

Supporting victims of gender-based violence

To improve the care of women victims of gender-based violence, the French Red Cross asked BSF to deploy an Ideas Cube for the staff and volunteers of the Central African Red Cross. Thanks to the resources of the digital library, they can strengthen their knowledge and skills on the subject, improve the reception and support of victims, and set up awareness-raising workshops for the Bangui inhabitants.

Helping care better for HIV positive patients

Since 2013, the Central African Republic has been faced with complex security, political, and humanitarian crises with serious consequences for the lives of people, especially in regards to their access to primary services, including healthcare. In the countries that experience an HIV epidemic, the access to short and long-term care by HIV patients has become very difficult. In 2019, the French Red Cross asked LWB to be part of a project offering nutritional and psychological support for people living with HIV in the Center of Ambulatory Treatment and the Nutritional and Data Section on HIV (UNIV) of Bangui. LWB selected specific digital content, complementing the resources developed by the Red Cross that were integrated into an Ideas Cube Kit. Installed at the heart of UNIV in November 2019, this kit allows health workers and volunteers, all trained by LWB, to gain access to relevant documents and to perfect their professional practices caring for persons living with HIV.

Digital media libraries within the Alliance Française

Since 2017, Libraries Without Borders has been working in collaboration with the Alliance Française of Bangui, the Central African agency for training and employment (ACFPE), as well as the Ministry of Elementary, Secondary, and Literacy Education. The objectives of these organizations are different: firstly, they aim to increase Bangui’s cultural offerings; secondly, they seek to facilitate integration into the professional world for young Central Africans; and lastly, they strive to improve the quality of elementary education nationwide. In two years, we have installed Ideas Cube kits in the Bangui Alliance Française, in the ACFPE (also located in Bangui) and in the regional pedagogical centers (CPR) – which train the teachers of tomorrow – attached to the Ministry. For each type of organization, LWB selected different kinds of content depending on the needs and profiles of the users. Official pedagogical sheets that constitute the teacher’s course material have been added to the CPR Ideas Cube. In a context where paper resources are scarce and approximately 3/4 of teachers are parents, the Ideas Cube makes sense. By 2019, the country’s last four CPRs will be equipped with them, to improve the quality of education on a wider scale. A final evaluation of the project has been scheduled for Spring 2020, and a report of the project and its impacts will be produced.