Fracarita International in CAR
The Brothers of Charity are present in the Central African Republic since 2009.
They launched a project in 2011 to improve the wellbeing of detainees in the prisons of the capital Bangui. As in many other African countries, the living conditions for the inmates – about half of them pretrial detainees – are extremely harsh, both physically and psychologically. Most of them have to stay in large communal cells and sleep on the floor. They are often held at length without trial or charge and at times are refused the ability to consult counsel or speak with their families.
The Brothers of Charity have been authorised by the Ministry of Justice to improve their wellbeing by providing vocational education, alphabetisation courses and civics, and by organizing socio-cultural and sports activities. The Brothers will also be involved in the reconciliation process between victim and perpetrator and will give counselling to former inmates during their reintegration process. The expertise of the organisation in the field of psycho social support will be very helpful to develop this kind of activities in the CAR.