> this week, "global 3000" heads toto mexico, whehere custy automobiles are being transformed into vehicles of the future. will that improve life for the smog-ridden city's 9 million resisidents? a basic income trial in finland is being followed with great interest around the world. how's it going? but first, we head to the central african republic, a land

in ruins and rarely heard about. our reporter brings us up to date. from the late 19th century until 1960, the central african republic was a french colony. then it declared independence. but instead of a democratic government being installed, the country was run by a series of corrupupt politicians s and auautocrats, incluluding the notorious empeperor bokassssa. sisince then, , there have bea series of military putsches. the last coup was in 2013. for decades, numerous warlords and rebel groups -- among them christians and muslims -- have fought over the country's commodities, fertile meadowlands, gold, and diamonds. thousands of people have been killed, while others have fled to neighbouring countries like chad, cameroon, and the democratic republic of congo. according to the un's refugee agency, around 545,500 people have left. and even more, 600,000 people have been inteternally displpl.

>> from the air, kaga bandoro in the northern part of the central african republic looks pretty peaceful. but what we're seeing is actually a refugee camp housing around 30,000 people, some of them from the city itself. half of those in the camp are children. many have been badly traumatized. like lucie vlachou. she's 12, fromom a village abot 90 kilometers away. lucie was forced to flee when her home was attacked by rebels. >> i havave no family. i live witith other people f fry village. >> a teacher from the villagae tells us that her mother was taken by the rebels. lucie hasn't heard from her

since. everyone else in her family is dead. stories like lucie's are not uncommon. >> one morning they came to our villllage. they had really big guns, and started shooting at everything in sight. they even killed children. i ran away with my family and came to this camp. >> after school, we accompany achille back to his new home in the refugee camp. only his grandfather is there to greet him. >> it's very hard to survive here. there's not much aid, and we no longer have fields to plant things to eat. only god can help us. >> the camp went up p a year a, practically overnight, after an armed group attacked the christian district of the city. seeking protection, the people there fled to un troops

ststationed nearby. kaga bandoro is a divided city. the small river that flows through its geographic center serves as the border. the center in the northern districts is in the hands of a muslim rebel militia called séleka. the southern districts are occupied by their largely christian opponents, known as the anti-balaka. many houses are deserted here. next to that are the un barracks. the kaga bandoro refugee camp grew up next to its protective fence. the blue helmets took up positions on the city's only bridge in an attempt to keep the two warring sides apart. but the raids continue. there are around 12,500 un soldiers in the country. only a few residents have dared to return to their homes. florentin dambéti lives in a hut built amidst the wreckage of his former farm, which was destroyed by the séleka.

>> i can't sleep here anymore. a woman was robbed here yesterday. someone robbed her of 25,000 francs. i spoke with the authorities about the security situation here. it's not safe in this part of the cityty. >> donaig de lu has worked for unicef in the central african republic for years. the kaga bandoro camp is just one of many in the country, she says, and things are getting worse. >> the humanitarian needs are increasing. sadly, more and more people are under attack. we have 600,000 people who are internally displaced within the country, which what it was at the peak of the crisis in 2014, so there is still a lot to do. >> among the refugees, tens of thousands of children who were taken up by armed grououps. the un is trying to liberate as many as possible from the warlords and rebels, but many

struggle to reintegrate in society. many of the girls were kept for years as sex slaves. >> i was 12 and lived in bangui. an armed group forced me to go with t them. since then, , i've lived aroud here. i'm 17 now. it was terrible. i saw and i did the most a awfl things. the life that i had all of those years was no life at all. >> thehere's no sasafe haven r childrdren in this environmentf violence. at least there's a playground in the camp. but the legacy of war is unmistakable even here. sometimes achille spends time with other children in the camp in the afternoon. but nothing is like it used to

be. >> i had a good life in my village. i had lots of fririen. we had a lot of f fun togethe. we had school lessons under the big tree. in the evenings, we sang and danced in the moonlight. but that's all gone. manyny of my friends are dead,dd the othehersrere in fugee e cam. >> lucie and achille share a similar fate, and they face a highly uncertain future. and as it stands now, a peaceful solution between the warring parties seems unlikely. >> the central african republic has a population of just 5 million, but a total area almost twice the size of germany. which should make it an ideal place for wild animals to thrive. from kaga bandoro, our reporter

jürgen schneider travelled further south to the dzanga-sangha special reserve. there, he met activists who are doing all they can to keep the native wildlife from beingng wid out. >> it's relatively tranquil in the rain forest in the south of the central african republic. that hasn't always been the case. but the war has shifted to other regions now. gorilla expert terence fuh was one of the few people who remained in dzanga-sangha after the area was overrun in 2013. >> when the rebels got here, they looted the project site. there were some popoachers tht cacame from sudadan and succeedo come herere. they went to sangha bay,y, the forestst clearing, and killela lot of elephants, and as a result, this place was almost inhabitable. >> the unique wildlife in anga-sanghgha is still thriving thanks in part to generous financial support, particularly

from germany. some 2000 gorillas still live in the park, for the most part undisturbed. >> this is a lot of income for the population. we have a ststaff of 60 0 peo. in a smallll village like thi, employing 60 people is not an easy task. it's l like feeding 12120 difft families. so we think that the people really b benefit from it. >> more than 1200 wild elephants also live in dzanga-sangha. in the middle of the rain forest is a clearing. the animals are attracted to the mineral salts in the soil. for the past year, luis arranz has been working here for the world wildlife fund for nature.

he's had many years ofof expeperienceeaealingith nanatue conservavation in isis regions. elephants are a favorite target for poachers. the animals in the clearing are restless. >> we cacan't do a lot. i mean, we have rangers. we are trying to stop the poachers. but if the traffic of ivory doesn't stop, we are going to lose all the elephants. >> last year, 21 elephants were killed by poachers. that's not many compared to other countries in africa. confiscateted weapons and tuss are put in authorized storage. >> this is one of the biggest we have. it is near 17 kilograms each. so a lot of money for the poachers. >> arrananz has spt t 37 years working as a conservationist in

africa, anand during thahat t, he's observed d how elephants e gradually disappearing from the continent. >> the last elephants in central africa is here where we are. the rest of the country is empty. the poachers have finished with all of them, and we know that in the future they will come here and they will try to kill our elephants. so we have to be ready to defend us from them. >> even though rangers patrol the park, they don't have enough weapons and ammunition to ward off the professional poachers. the situation is similar in the rest of africa. >> there are dying a lot of people, and that is the problem that people buyiying ivory, thy think only the elephants are dying, b but there are a lot f people dying, poachers and rangers, for that. >> during previous posts in chad and northern congo, arranz lost

nearly 40 employees in the battle against poachers. >> it's a pity. we are going to destroy africa and we are doing nothing. i think that we are in a war and we are losing that war, and nobody wants to recognize that we are losing that war. if we don't do nothing in the next 5, 10 years, everything will be finished. >> there are still many wild elephants in the sangha clearing. >> we have alwayays the probles with the guns and ammunition. everybody says, "no, how do you want to use guns and ammunition to protect the elephants?" i don't want guns to protect the elephants. i want guns to protect the people that protect the elephants. that is different. because the poachers come with guns. and when our rangers have no guns, they are going to die. >> today, the locals are celebrating the opening of a

small center for handicrafts. luis arranz has come to watch the dancing and share the villagers' hopes for the future of the dzangha-sangha region. >> my name is arnol aarón puririzaca musayón. i'm m 14 years old.. inin zorritos, i in the northf peru. i love surfing and also playing the guitar. i'm like a water rat. i'm really interested in marine life.

we are three brorothers.s. i'm the ololdest. my father works in marine biodiversity conservation, and my mother is a homemaker. sharing life with my family and my parents, going to school, and surfing. when i'm out riding a big wave and go under, i sometimes think i'll never find my way out. that's really scary. terrorism, hitmen, all the violence, robberies, and

murders. i'd like to become a doctor or a primary school teacher. i want to teach children and save lives. yes, i think so, because my grandparents told me that when they went to school, it was very strict, and the teachers c coud beatat them. and theyey told t their parens didn't have e enough money to te rereally good d care of the. >> an unconditional basic income has become a hot topic around

the world. its premise is simple -- every person, regardless of their employment status, should receive a basic and unconditional wage from the state. and there are already examples. citizens of alaska receive annual payouts from a fund financed by the oil industry. and the governrnnt of ontario in canada i is planni i its own bac income pilot study. in f finland, suchch a trial s been up and running for a year. >> the sound of the drum has to be adjusted a little before it's complelely finishehed. juha jährvinen knows that from experience. juha hand-carves made-to-order shaman drums one at a time. >> right now i'm trying g to me as many drums as possible to earn as much money as i can. but handmade goods always take more time.

it's not mass production, so as a business it isn't very lucrative. >> juha is grateful that he's now allowed to keep the 700 euros he charges for each instrument. in the past, his additional earnings were deducted from his unemployment benefits. juha is one of 2000 unemployed finns receiving a universal basic income of 560 euros without restrictions. besides making drums, the artist says he can now also devote more time to his children and housekeeping. >> i don't have to deal with all that stress anymore. before, when i was receiving unemployment benefits, i hadado register regularly at the job center to prove that i was activevely looking for work. it was quitete a burden. >> in the northern finnish city of oulu, jarkko kahunen also receives a basic income. he's been out of work for four

years after his company shut its offices here. the computer scientist eventually realized that he was too old for young start-ups, and too long out of the business to be offered a programming position. now he wants to be seself-employed. the basic income provides him with a safety net. >> back when i worked in the i.t. sector, salaries were quite good. i know being self-employed comes with risks. but i've wanted to be my own boss for a long time, and now i have the opportunity. >> he's chosen a new career path -- selling luxury chocolate is his business idea. jarkko offers his exclusive products to specialty shops in oulu's shopping malls. he even imports some of them from germany. online, he's set up an internet shop to increase sales in his

small business. >> if you only want to sit at home on your sofa, the basic inincome allows you to continueo be lazy and stop looking for a job. but for people like me who want to work, it's very motivating. >> jarkko o has given himselfa year to makeke his chocolalate business profitable. one thing is clear to him. in finland, , you can't make es meet with the basic income alone. the finnish government isn't ready to release an interim assessment of the pilot program. officials want to wait until the trial wraps up at the end of 2018 to say how the 2000 test recipients used the basic income. it could play an important role in future societies if there are radical changes in the working world. >> it's unclear hohothe job market w will develop in the

future. it's's possible that automatin could mean thehere aren't enouh jo for eveveryone, a and thenn we'll have to consider how to overhaul our social security system. >> juha jährvinen still has big plans. and since he began receiving the unconditional basic income, his creative driveve has blossome. together with some friends, he wants to buy this vacant cultural center. they want to call the project "art bnb." juha wants artists to move in and work at the center. he's passionate about his idea, but he and his friends don't have the money to turn it into reality yet. still, he remains optimistic. >> innovations drive the whole world to develop. there should be as many of them possible. you have to have a hundred wild ideas. in the end, two remain that work, and they move us forward.

>> juha jährvinen n thinks the basic income is a real innovationon. and he believes it wouldld bea shame to get rid of it after the two-year trial. >> there are around 1.3 billion cars and trucks on our planet. but t only around d 2 millionf themem have an elelectric mot. there e are still totoo few chag ststations in opoperation. plus, the cost of the hihicles is t high h fomany. noneththeless, the n number of electric vehehicles is fororecao hit 40 million by 20.. nonot soon enougugh for so o oe mo greenen-mded cititins of mexico. >> it's clear weather, but a blanket of smog lies over mexico city. 5 million cars travel through the vast urban center every day. even though the bad air is palpable, it seems no one here wants to give up driving.

>> so many cars -- too bad they pollute so much. >> and why don't you have an electric car? >> my husband really wants to buy one.e. hohopefully we can get one soo. >> therere's not enough choic. >> they're too expensive. >> there are too few charging stations. >> but where there's a will, there's a way. hector ruiz has packed 14 batteries under the hood of his converted elecectric vw bebee. we're takingng it out for a sp. the car's quiet hum is quickly drowned out as we dive into rush hour in the mexican capital and are engulfed in exhaust fumes. >> i even had to go to a specialist because i developed an asthma problem, because i've been living in such a poisonous city for 15 years. >> who needs an expensive new car that'll go 200 kilometers an hour if you spend most of your time stuck in traffic?

ruiz had his car converted to meet his true needs. >> so what kind of a range does your car have? >> 50 kilometers. >> 50 kilometers? that's nothing. it's really not worth it, is it? >> it is worth it. i never drive more than 2525 or0 kilolometers a day. >> if he had stronger batteries, the electric beetle could go much further, but ruiz doesn't care. he paid 4,500 euros for his electric drive to this man, alvaró de la paz. the mechanic converts cars with diesel or gasoline engines into electric vehicles. a mini like this one requires a lot t more battery power than e bug. de la paz is self-taught. >> looks like all the others. i'm pretty proud of it.

>> de la paz says that converting conventional cars is quick, saves resources, and costs just a fraction of what a new electric car would cost. >> it's to our advantage if we use what's already been made and turn it into something that can still be used, but without the negative side effects. >> if the state were to subsidize not just the price of new e-cars but also conversions, he says everyone could have an electric vehicle for as little as 3,000 euros. and de la paz hasn't't neededa big lab or testing grounds to make it work. >> here we write down everything we've planned and learned so we don't forget. like how to build the batteries, how the mechanisms work, how we set them up. it may look chaotic, but it's what's going on in our heads. >> the 58-year-old has been experimenting for around a decade. his dream? making it possible for nearly

any driver to convert a car, rather than leaving electromobility to the lucky few who can afford to buy an expensive new model. this driver r was initially a customer that has turned into a partnener. those e who really w want to prt the environment don't ha too wait for t carar iustry to finally come toughgh. >> peoe have bn n talkg about electric cars since the 1980s. we've been waiting for decades. and then carmakers only come out with really expensive cars. i decided not to wait, and had mine converted instead. >> that's all for today. but don't forget to drop us a line with your comments. write to us at global3000@dw.com. or on facebook -- "dw global society." bye for now. take care. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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