CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Bangui gets ?1 million from France to pay salaries
BANGUI, 22 October (IRIN) - The French government has granted the
Central
African Republic ?1 million (US $1.16 million) to help it pay its civil
servants' salaries and to stabilise its public finances, French
Ambassador
Jean-Pierre Destouesse has announced.
Street children's centre inaugurated
BANGUI, 23 October (IRIN) - A centre for abandoned and street children,
built with financial support from France, was inaugurated on Wednesday
in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic.
"This centre will significantly contribute to the care of children who
were victimised by political, economic and social turmoil," Jean Pierre
Destouesse, the French Ambassador, said during the inauguration.
France contributed 66 million francs CFA (US $122,308) that was used to
build the centre, which cost a total of 86 million francs CFA
($159,371).
French-based charities Secours Catholique and Auteuil International as
well as a local NGO, Voix du Coeur, also contributed funds for the
construction of the centre managed by Voix du Coeur.
The minister in charge of water and forestry, Maurice Yondo, presided
over the centre's inauguration. The UN Secretary-General?s
representative, Lamine Cisse, also attended the ceremony.
The chairwoman of Voix du Coeur, Beatrice Epaye, told IRIN that the
centre had the capacity to shelter 60 children. She said the NGO would
provide three cooked meals daily for the children.
She added that the centre was open to all street children, especially
those seeking medical care, which would be offered free of charge. She
said the UN Children?s Fund and the Order of Malta had donated drugs,
and the UN World Food Programme had donated some of the food.
She said the centre, with a three-bed hospitalisation room, had two
volunteer doctors and a permanent nurse.