Central African journalists have been risking their lives as they try to inform their compatriots in what are arguably some of the worst security and technical conditions. Even prior to the current conflict, CAR media faced challenging circumstances. IREX reported in its Media Sustainability Index that: “Media professionals in the Central African Republic continue to subsist despite deteriorating working conditions, meager operating budgets, dilapidated facilities, and technical barriers to disseminating their reporting. They face government tactics of harassment, suspensions, and other deterrents, particularly in relation to the country’s persisting problems of corruption and banditry in the southeast. All of these factors complicate the media scene and create a largely unsustainable environment for the press.”
The current situation changes from hour to hour and given that there are almost one million displaced persons, the humanitarian situation is critical and the media play an important role in getting information to the population. As one roundtable participant said: "l'information en temps de crise doit être considérée au même titre que l'eau et la nourriture".
Due to the challenges in getting accurate information of the sector’s needs and the importance of bringing together key stakeholders, IMS and Institute Panos Europe (IPE) organized a two-day roundtable in Yaoundé, Cameroon address the needs of the media and humanitarian information and communication sectors in CAR.