Central African Republic

The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country situated in the heart of Central Africa. It
became an autonomous state in 1960 and gained full independence from France in August 1960. CAR
shares its borders with Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo and
Cameroon.
The flag of the Central African Republic was adopted on December 1st 1958 upon gaining autonomy
from France. The flag has four equal horizontal bands of blue, white, green and yellow with a vertical red
stripe at the hoist side with a yellow star in the center. Blue stands for hope, white for peace and
innocence, green for faith and loyalty, yellow for tolerance and red for determination to build a new
nation.
The current president of CAR is Faustin-Archange Touadéra who was elected on February 14th 2016
succeeding Catherine Samba-Panza who had been acting president since January 2014 following a coup
led by Michel Djotodia who deposed President François Bozizé who had been president since 2003.
Since gaining independence in 1960 Central African Republic has seen many civil wars between religious
factions as well as conflicts between government forces and rebel groups which have resulted in
hundreds of thousands being displaced or killed. A major conflict occurred during 2002-2003 when
General Bozize attempted to overthrow then-president Ange-Félix Patassé which ultimately led to his
own election into office as President following international intervention headed by France. This conflict
caused massive displacement within the country leading to millions suffering from famine and disease
due to lack of adequate supplies during this time period.
In 2012 tensions flared up again resulting in another civil war between Christian anti-balaka militias and
Muslim Seleka rebels which caused further displacement with over 600,000 people becoming internally
displaced or fleeing to neighboring countries like Chad or Cameroon by 2017. This violence continued
even after Michel Djotodia was elected president until he eventually resigned from office due to
pressure from international partners such as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
After several years of relative peace under President Catherine Samba-Panza’s administration Faustin
Archange Touadéra was elected into office during February 2016 where he promised policy reforms that
would help bring back stability and economic recovery throughout the country still reeling from civil
unrest from previous years. Under his presidency there has been more focus on strengthening
institutions such as justice systems as well as promoting regional integration initiatives through
collaboration with other Central African countries such as Cameroon or Chad in order to increase trade
relations across the region while boosting economic development within CAR itself by attracting foreign
investment into key sectors such as agriculture or energy production.
Central African
Republic
Despite these efforts there are still major issues that need to be addressed such as poverty levels still
very high at 59% within CAR affected mainly rural areas due mainly structural deficiencies within
economy along with ongoing security issues which continue hinder progress made by President
Touadéra’s administration making it difficult for him fully realize his plans improve lives citizens
especially those living outside urban centers where education health care access remain lacking but also
further hindering participation government programs that could benefit population greatly if
implemented properly giving them greater opportunities succeed life improve standard living conditions
both short long term basis bringing much needed stability region entire continent Africa provide better
future generations come.