Martine Kessy Ekomo-Soignet, Central African Republic

Martine Kessy Ekomo-Soignet is a Central African public policy analyst, peacebuilder, and social entrepreneur whose work has centered, for more than thirteen years, on one core question: how can the realities, knowledge, and aspirations of Central Africans more effectively inform the decisions and policies that shape their country? She is the founder and executive director of Peace and Development Watch - Central African Republic (PDW-CAR), an independent think-and-do tank based in Bangui. Through applied research, citizen consultations, strategic analysis, and public dialogue, PDW-CAR works to close the gap between local realities and decision-making, while strengthening the capacity of Central African actors to produce knowledge and contribute to public policy. Under her leadership, PDW-CAR has built expertise in democratic governance, peace and social cohesion, youth and citizenship, territorial development, strategic dialogue, and public policy.

During her time in Paris, the residency will create opportunities to bring this experience into dialogue with civil society leaders, researchers, artists, social entrepreneurs, and institutions that are themselves experimenting with new ways of strengthening democratic participation and building social bonds. She will explore, in particular, third places and spaces for collective action, citizen-led initiatives emerging from underserved neighborhoods, new forms of cooperation between public institutions, civil society, and the private sector, as well as the role of culture and the imagination in building trust. The residency is conceived as a two-way exchange: an opportunity for Ekomo-Soignet to encounter models and practices that may inform her work in the Central African Republic, while also bringing to Paris the knowledge, experience, and forms of democratic innovation emerging from the Central African context.