'It's now or never' for Central African Republic, UN warns urging more support to end crisis

The Head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Africa, Abdoulaye Dieye, began today a week-long visit to the Central African Republic (CAR), calling on international partners to intensify their support for the country's ongoing transition process.

“It's now or never for partners who are willing to help CAR to break the cycle of violence and poverty," said Mr. Dieye in a press release issued at the start of his visit.

“Central Africans must engage on a path of dialogue to restore the rule of law, fight impunity, build stronger institutions and revive the economy to provide citizens with the livelihoods they need.”

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the crisis in CAR has led to the displacement of over 438,000 people within the country and forced more than 423,000 people to flee to Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo. More than half of the country's population, the equivalent of about 2.5 million people, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, while more than 60 percent of the population continues to live in extreme poverty.

The transitional Government has adopted a roadmap, giving priority to supporting the political dialogue, national reconciliation and the organization of elections, support for the process of restoring peace and security, community recovery and humanitarian assistance.

During the visit, UNDP and its partners on the ground will reiterate their support for the Government as it vies to restore the authority of the State and advance the country's reconciliation process. The discussions will also feed into a national reconciliation forum to be held in the capital, Bangui in March.

It will also provide an opportunity to discuss with the authorities and other partners the organization of the upcoming elections and the redeployment of the administration across the country. UNDP has helped the Government to conduct a nationwide survey, mapping out specific needs for redeploying local administrations, infrastructure and services.

As part of its efforts to safeguard core government services, UNDP also worked with the UN Peacebuilding Fund and the World Bank to resume the payment of salaries for civil servants.

During his visit, Mr. Dieye will meet with the Government bodies responsible for overseeing the transition, including the Head of State, Catherine Samba-Panza, the Prime Minister, the President of the Transitional Parliament, and government ministers. He will also meet bilateral missions and the Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), Babacar Gaye.