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Annan calls for comprehensive aid to post-civil war Central African Republic

Annan calls for comprehensive aid to post-civil war Central African Republic

With Central African Republic (CAR) "gradually returning to a path of peace, economic recovery, reconstruction and sustainable development," United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is calling for comprehensive joint assistance from the country's development partners.

"The socio-economic and financial situation of the Central African Republic remains difficult," he says in his latest report to the Security Council on the country. He recommends that existing cooperation frameworks and the consolidated appeals process be strengthened "to provide grater support to the country's economic recover efforts and to prevent any deterioration in the socio-economic situation."

Since development is inextricably linked to security, an improvement in the interior and in the border areas is needed for stability in the Central African Republic, he says.

Development assistance will come from the Committee of Foreign Partners, Mr. Annan says, comprising China, France, Germany, Russian Federation, the United States, the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), the Multinational Force of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (FOMUC), the International Organization of la Francophonie, the UN Peacebuilding Support Office in CAR (BONUCA), the European Union (EU), the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and the World Bank.

The UN Resident Coordinator should coordinate the aid mechanisms, bearing in mind the newly elected Government's priorities, which include immediate streamlining of finances, rehabilitation of the basic infrastructure destroyed during the mutinies and politico-military crises which were the source of instability past, and the modernization of several sectors, he says.