Over 1,000 ex-fighters in the Central African Republic (CAR) have joined an FAO-supported UN initiative for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.
The programme’s message is simple: stop partaking in violence, put down your weapons and, in exchange, you’ll get help to start a new life. Participants get certified training in gardening, horticulture, rearing chickens and pigs as well as tools, seeds or baby animals.
“This initiative is an important steps towards reaching peace and restoring hope. We are seeing violence rising again to levels as high as in 2013-2014, so giving armed groups an option, a way out, couldn’t be timelier,” said Jean-Alexandre Scaglia, FAO Representative in CAR.
28-year-old Moussa (name changed), an ex-fighter, is now looking after his animals in a neighborhoods of the capital Bangui, known for its brutal clashes. He has recently sold one of the pigs he got through the UN programme and with the money, he started a little business - buying and selling bed mattresses and boards.
“I don’t know why I was fighting. It made no sense, and it got me nowhere. My mum is a Muslim, my father a Christian. So, who was I fighting against?” he reminisces.
“I chose to get the training in raising and selling pigs. I must say it feels like a new door is opening up in front of me, especially after I got my certificate. I do want to be part of this – to see peace and a better life in my country,” he added.
Other young people like Moussa engage in growing and selling vegetables. Others still in repairing roads and public infrastructure destroyed by the conflict.
“The programme also brings considerable financial gains. On average, the monthly earnings are about CFA 50,000 ($85), but these activities bring about CFA 200,000 – 300,000 ($300-500) per month. The programme doesn’t only help restore peace, it also boosts the economy and gives young people a chance to rebuild their country,” added Scaglia.
Renewed violence pushed CAR into its fourth year of conflict. Over half a million people have fled their homes, across the borders or into sprawling internally displaced persons camps. One in two people suffers from hunger.
FAO urgently requires $10 million by February to support more than 350,000 people – displaced people and vulnerable host communities - to resume their agricultural activities and prepare for the next harvesting season (March‒April 2018) by providing them with seeds and tools, and basic veterinary services for their livestock.
Source: fao,org
The programme’s message is simple: stop partaking in violence, put down your weapons and, in exchange, you’ll get help to start a new life. Participants get certified training in gardening, horticulture, rearing chickens and pigs as well as tools, seeds or baby animals.
“This initiative is an important steps towards reaching peace and restoring hope. We are seeing violence rising again to levels as high as in 2013-2014, so giving armed groups an option, a way out, couldn’t be timelier,” said Jean-Alexandre Scaglia, FAO Representative in CAR.
28-year-old Moussa (name changed), an ex-fighter, is now looking after his animals in a neighborhoods of the capital Bangui, known for its brutal clashes. He has recently sold one of the pigs he got through the UN programme and with the money, he started a little business - buying and selling bed mattresses and boards.
“I don’t know why I was fighting. It made no sense, and it got me nowhere. My mum is a Muslim, my father a Christian. So, who was I fighting against?” he reminisces.
“I chose to get the training in raising and selling pigs. I must say it feels like a new door is opening up in front of me, especially after I got my certificate. I do want to be part of this – to see peace and a better life in my country,” he added.
Other young people like Moussa engage in growing and selling vegetables. Others still in repairing roads and public infrastructure destroyed by the conflict.
“The programme also brings considerable financial gains. On average, the monthly earnings are about CFA 50,000 ($85), but these activities bring about CFA 200,000 – 300,000 ($300-500) per month. The programme doesn’t only help restore peace, it also boosts the economy and gives young people a chance to rebuild their country,” added Scaglia.
Renewed violence pushed CAR into its fourth year of conflict. Over half a million people have fled their homes, across the borders or into sprawling internally displaced persons camps. One in two people suffers from hunger.
FAO urgently requires $10 million by February to support more than 350,000 people – displaced people and vulnerable host communities - to resume their agricultural activities and prepare for the next harvesting season (March‒April 2018) by providing them with seeds and tools, and basic veterinary services for their livestock.
Source: fao,org