Raising his singing voice for a cause
How Ozaguin, one of the most popular singers from the Central African Republic, is using his influence to advocate for change
By Amaya Amigo
Jean Paul Mbele, known by his fans as Ozaguin, had a harsh start to life. After his father passed away when he was just a baby, Ozaguin struggled to survive as an orphan. Forced from his home in the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) in the peak of violence in 2014, he sought refuge in neighboring Republic of Congo. With nowhere to stay, he slept at the docks of the Congo River.
Ozaguin found hope listening to African music on his mp3 player — one of his only possessions. He had a gift for singing and creating his own rhythms drawn the beats he grew up with. Music drove his determination to succeed and he didn’t let the vicissitudes of life stop him from pursuing his goal to share his talent with the world.
He returned to the C.A.R. four years later and his voice led him to fame. Now in a position to facilitate change, he wants to give back to the people who helped him reach his dream: his audience and fans.
“The economic situation is bad. There are no jobs. Humanitarian assistance is so important right now, but we must not forget how important it is to invest in the long term,” Ozaguin said during a news conference at the United Nations Office in Geneva in July 2019 “We must enable the government to revive our country,” he added.
The internal armed conflict that Ozaguin fled from, has continued to devastate the C.A.R. since 2014, causing a severe breakdown in basic social services and constantly rising numbers of internally displaced people — currently this number is over 600,000 which is equivalent to one in four citizens.
The humanitarian situation in the C.A.R continues to deteriorate further, with an estimated 1.8 million people considered as severely food insecure. Malnutrition is a real concern: the rate of chronic child malnutrition stands at 38 percent while acute malnutrition affects at least one in 10 children aged between 2 and 6 years old. This poses a major risk to child development.
Ozaguin chose to walk his talk of drawing attention to the plight of his people by travelling with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), in August 2019, to meet internally displaced people (IDPs) at camp called Elevages, near Bambari in the central region of the C.A.R.
Ozaguin highlighted the importance of operations like that of WFP, which provides food and e-vouchers to beneficiaries for use in local markets, so that they can feed themselves and their families; creating a critical sense of normalcy in their worlds of uncertainty.
“I am happy to help distribute food that mothers use to feed their children, and to see how people are coming to get their coupons to buy food. I am happy to see the World Food Programme doing this work which makes my Central African family feel supported by the international community. This is work that is well done.”
While visiting Bambari where WFP provides food and nutrition assistance to more than 20,000 IDPs each month, Ozaguin performed for the community and poignantly sang, “Rien n’est tard,” translated as: ‘it is never too late.’
Ozaguin continues to use his voice to elevate the concerns of others; to campaign for lasting change and to underline that it is never too late to improve the lives of those suffering from the impact of his country’s ongoing crisis.
WFP, both individually and with its humanitarian partners, will continue to advocate for increased support from the international community to do just that, as it is never too late to improve the lives of those suffering.
