Reuniting Families

Three children, two boys and a girl, used to live in the village of Gouzé, 25 km from Paoua, CAR, with their parents.

The social situation was harmonious but in 2023, following an attack on Paoua by armed groups, there was a chaotic situation and people started to run away. The three children found themselves in the middle of this movement. They ended up in Gbatong-Béa, where they were taken in by an elderly community member. They have not seen their parents since. The difficult conditions in which the children lived, led them to work in the fields to earn money and support themselves. It was during an awareness-raising event in Gbatong-Béa in the framework of the JF-CPiE project, that the elderly man, admitted having taken in children separated from their parents and referred them to SOS CAR.

SOS CAR therefore documented the three children and placed them with a temporary host family in Bossangoa following the safeguarding risk analysis. The temporary foster family was provided with cash on a monthly basis to meet, not only the needs of the children in placement, but also those of the host family.

Interventions

Psychosocial support. The three children were immediately included in the project’s case management component. After listening, an action plan was drawn up to provide a holistic response to the children’s needs. The Psychosocial Officers have therefore drawn up three action plans.

Placement in temporary foster care. Placed within the temporary foster families, the children have been given access to improved foods and hygiene kits through the provided cash support for temporary foster families. In the meanwhile, the family tracing process was launched to locate the biological parents.

Family reunification. Before the family reunification, all the Paoua authorities and the communities are informed of the date and place of the reunification. They are invited to attend and mark the handover ceremony with their presence.

Monitoring. The authorities and communities have the onerous task of monitoring family reunification and preventing separation from happening again. The project teams make regular visits and phone calls to ensure that the children are well integrated into their families.

After the intervention

Following the reunification, the parents expressed their satisfaction. For them, it was a miracle to see their children again. They said that they “were convinced that the children had passed from life to death”.