At an informal meeting of the PBC’s Central African Republic (CAR) configuration on 25 June, Ambassador Jan Grauls (Belgium), Chairman of the configuration, briefed Member States on his recent visit to the Central African Republic (9th – 12th June).  The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) to the Central African Republic and head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in CAR (BINUCA), Ms. Sahle-Work Zewde, informed the membership on the status of CAR’s national elections and described the most pressing issues in the country’s peacebuilding process. 

This was the second meeting of the PBC’s CAR configuration this month.

Update on elections
The upcoming national election has been a topic of great concern for many months in the Central African Republic, and the Chairman of the configuration, as well as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for CAR gave much attention to this issue in their presentations.

After a number of postponements in the election dates (the elections were originally set for 25 April and then postponed to 16 May) the first round of national elections in CAR will take place on 24 October.  The final date was proposed by the national electoral commission in CAR and has yet to be officially confirmed by the current government through a Presidential decree.  Despite this pending formality, the Chairman, the SRSG and Member States present at the meeting expressed their support for the new date and conveyed positive hopes for the future of CAR based on this development.

In her report to the configuration, the SRSG described these elections as a chance for the country to move forward on its broader peacebuilding and development efforts.  Importantly, the delay also allows the international community to make much needed additional contributions to CAR’s electoral process. 

The current budget of the elections, approximately 21.6 million dollars (US) according to the Chairman of the configuration, has a remaining shortfall of nearly 7.5 million dollars (US).  As the Chairman said in his briefing, the issuance of a Presidential decree validating the proposed election date in CAR would be counterproductive if a democratic electoral process on par with international election standards was made impossible due to a lack of essential funding.  With this in mind, the Chairman and the SRSG both asked Member States for financial assistance pledges at the earliest possible date. 

Member States were positively receptive of the news about CAR’s 24 October election date. Among statements of encouragement for CAR and a palpable sense of relief at the timely announcement of a final official election date, some Member States still were cautious in their praise. 

Notably, the government of Gabon expressed significant qualms about ongoing violence in Northeast CAR, threatening to destabilize an effective electoral process in the country.  Violent attacks on civilians and a constant and chaotic stream of internally displaced peoples and refugees from outside CAR will make it difficult for citizens in this part of the country to be accurately represented in a democratic poll.  With these difficulties in mind, Gabon encouraged CAR’s national authorities, and the UN presence in the country to pursue every means to allow this region’s citizens proper and safe access to October’s official polls.  The United States added its voice to Gabon’s concerns.

Expressing confidence in the new date and praising CAR’s legitimate efforts to maintain a democratic ideal for its elections, France, South Africa, the United States, the European Union, and the African Union described the forthcoming elections as a positive step toward a sustainably peaceful and democratic Central African state.  Most important, the country representatives indicated that the 24 October election date is an important deadline for CAR to move toward efficiently to ensure a legitimate process.

As the Chairman of the configuration had previously stated in his presentation, the role of Member States in this electoral process is of a secondary nature, at very best to serve as a means to provide technical and financial assistance to CAR.  Member States at the meeting acknowledged this position, deferring to CAR’s national sovereignty over its own democratic electoral process as a major step in the country’s path to national ownership over its peacebuilding process.

Chairman’s briefing
Official Visit to Bangui
The Chairman of the CAR configuration, Ambassador Jan Grauls (Belgium) travelled to Bangui, the capital of CAR, from 9 – 12 June.  As he elaborated in his last briefing to Member States, on his agenda were three priority areas for peacebuilding in CAR:

1. security sector reform (SSR),
2. demobilization, disarmament and reintegration (DDR),
3. the establishment of development polls to serve as a road map of progress within CAR’s Strategic Framework for Peacebuilding. 

During his visit, the Chairman met with representatives of CAR’s sitting government, the national electoral commission responsible for overseeing the forthcoming electoral process in the country, the Committee for Inclusive Political Dialogue, the UN country team on the ground BINUCA, a number of representatives from various Women’s organizations in CAR, as well as humanitarian and development partners. 

With efforts and attention currently focused on the election process in CAR, the Chairman noted that other areas of the country’s peacebuilding process have been largely ignored or forgotten in the meantime, to the detriment of CAR’s transition to peace.  The time has come to take stock of existing measures and unimplemented tasks for the future.  The Chair suggested that these issues would be best addressed in the form of a round-table or donor conference event convened by the PBC CAR configuration, after the elections have taken place and when the process of demobilization, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) has been successfully completed.  Part of the purpose of such an event would be to find funding for the remaining projects on CAR’s Strategic Framework for Peacebuilding (including security sector reform (SSR) projects). 

The next priority issue in CAR after the elections is the security sector reform (SSR) process, the Chairman stressed.  It is an extremely important step in the country’s transition to peace.  First on the agenda under this initiative, is the restoration of Central Africans’ confidence in their own national armed forces. 

Finally, the Chairman underlined the need for a coordinated effort to map the existing and outstanding commitments in the rule of law and good governance sphere for CAR.  The goal of such an initiative would be to ensure the coordination and coherence of actions in the justice and legal systems in the country, and to identify existing gaps in these systems that beg correction. 

SRSG’s briefing
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) to CAR and head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in CAR (BINUCA), Ms. Sahle-Work Zewde informed Member States on the current state of peacebuilding efforts in CAR. 

As a crucial peacebuilding step in the country, the SRSG underlined the importance of the process of demobilization, disarmament and reintegration (DDR). The end goal for both security sector reform (SSR) and DDR efforts in CAR is a broader effort for reintegration in the country.  In this regard, efforts are in progress, slowly but surely.  A major advancement in this area is the compilation of a comprehensive list of ex-combatants, currently underway. Most important at this point in the peace process, is the need for greater synergy between DDR and SSR efforts.  Actors should work together to identify common priorities to facilitate a path forward and to continue to ensure a link between the two reform areas in the future.

The United States asked a question about the transition from the UN Peacebuilding Office in CAR (BONUCA) to the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in CAR (BINUCA), headed by Ms. Zewde.  The SRSG described the transition as a complex process.  A recent challenge has been the staffing of BINUCA, with major posts in its new structure not yet filled.  One of the major goals of the SRSG’s visit to UN Headquarters in New York is to facilitate the recruitment of qualified candidates to fill these posts.  Other than this hiring process, the integration of these two bodies is progressing well. 

Finally, in response to several states’ questions on the situation of ongoing conflict in CAR, the SRSG described continued violence in Southeast CAR, attributed to the Lord’s Resistance Army’s (LRA) movements in the area.  Some elements of the LRA had made attempts to move north, but the majority of LRA forces remain in Southeast CAR, disrupting the peaceful life of the people in this region. In the Northeast, inter-communal clashes have continued.  The SRSG said that a process to facilitate conciliation meetings between major ethnic groups in the Northeast are underway, and will hopefully lead to a lasting solution in the area.  Finally, the SRSG informed Member States that she had a meeting with the UN Department of Political Affairs about the possibility of sending an expert mediator to facilitate the conciliation process on the ground.

SC meeting on CAR’s BINUCA
At a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Central African Republic that took place on Monday, 28 June, the SRSG for CAR, Ms. Zewde was invited to speak on the current situation in CAR, and remark upon the Secretary-General’s 22nd report on the situation in CAR. 

The SRSG, the Chairman of the PBC’s CAR configuration, and the Permanent representative briefed Member States on the work of the PBC in CAR, as well as ongoing issues in the country.   Participants explained that the Central African Republic has reached a critical juncture at which the successful holding of elections and the completion of demobilization, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) efforts will determine the fate of the peacebuilding process in the country.  As the postponements of the electoral process were a general success, and occurred without major negative repercussions, it is now time to begin focusing efforts on the DDR process.

The Permanent Representative of the Central African Republic to the UN, Ambassador Fernand Poukré-Kono lamented the slow-progressing DDR initiative in CAR and underlined the need for additional support from the international community to adequately implement these measures, in danger of being overshadowed by the closely-watched electoral process in the country.  On these forthcoming elections, the Ambassador expressed positive hopefulness for a fair and clean election process.  Finally, he praised the work of the PBC in his country, noting that the astute and passionate leadership of the Chairman of the CAR configuration, Ambassador Grauls, brings hope to CAR, and has allowed the country to prepare for the next phase in its peace process.

For more on the 28 June Security Council briefing on the situation in CAR, read IGP’s meeting report.

Relevant News

The Central African Republic has called on the United States for military assistance in “neutralizing” the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), AFP reported on 5 July.  CAR’s plea follows U.S. President Barack Obama’s 24 May signing of the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act into law.  The Act reaffirms the U.S.’s commitment to assist and protect civilians affected by the violence and crimes of the LRA (across CAR, Uganda, DR Congo, and southern Sudan).  The LRA was driven from Uganda to the CAR in February 2008, and has been a main source of disruption and violence within the region. This call for assistance is especially urgent given the upcoming elections on 24 October, already postponed twice due to security instability in the post-conflict nation.