Fresh from holding the most extensive elections in its history, the Central African Republic (CAR) is entering what the UN’s top envoy in the country describes as a “decisive period” in consolidating fragile peace gains, even as security challenges persist and disarmament efforts continue.
The land flattens on the approach to Birao, a cut-off town ringed by savannah in the far north of the Central African Republic, where roads dissolve into dust and motorcycles vastly outnumber cars. Less than two hours’ drive from the Sudanese border, this is the edge of a fractured country still piecing itself back together, while absorbing the shockwaves of a neighbouring conflict.
Voting proceeded largely as planned in the Central African Republic’s first-ever combined presidential, legislative, regional and municipal elections, and ballot counting is now complete, the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSCA) said on Wednesday, with results expected to be announced on 5 January.
With Central Africans set to vote in presidential, legislative, regional and long-delayed municipal elections this weekend, the United Nations has appealed for calm and restraint, warning that the credibility of the process will be critical to consolidating peace after years of conflict and instability.
Two former leaders of the predominantly Christian Anti-Balaka militia in the Central African Republic have been convicted of multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The UN Secretary-General has strongly condemned a deadly attack on peacekeepers serving with the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, or CAR, which claimed the life of a Zambian peacekeeper and left another wounded.
A UN report released on Wednesday has uncovered a pattern of grave human rights violations committed by armed groups in southeast Central African Republic (CAR), targeting Muslim communities and Sudanese refugees.
The recent attack on a UN patrol in the Central African Republic (CAR) which resulted in the death of a Tunisian peacekeeper, underlines the constant dangers facing peacekeepers from armed groups there, the head of the UN mission (MINUSCA) told the Security Council on Thursday.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday lifted the arms embargo on the Central African Republic (CAR) government forces, while calling on all nations to take all necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply of all types of weapons and related materiel to armed groups operating there.
The UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) has expanded its presence in the country’s southeast to prevent further violence in areas heavily affected by conflict and systemic issues.
