New York, Dec 21 2011 2:10PM
The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacebuilding office in the Central African Republic (CAR) for another year, stressing the need to ensure effective coordination of the work of UN agencies, funds and programmes in the country.
Extending the mandate of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA) until the end of January 2013, the Council said that it looked forward to progress on the part of the Government in creating a permanent and independent electoral body to organize future elections and to revise the electoral code.
It encouraged CAR's Government to continue to engage in consultations with the opposition "in a consensual and inclusive manner," including on the electoral reform, and urged it to ensure that the freedom of expression and assembly, including for opposition parties, are respected.
The Council also called on the Government and all armed groups in the country to remain committed to the national reconciliation process by sticking to the recommendations of the "inclusive political dialogue" that ended in 2008. All armed groups must also cooperate with the Government in the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process, the Council added.
It welcomed the progress CAR has made in the disarmament and demobilization of former combatants in the north-west, and encouraged the Government to pursue the disarmament and demobilization of former combatants.
The Council, however, expressed concern over the security situation in CAR, which it said remained precarious.
It underscored the need for Chad, Sudan and CAR to implement the tripartite agreement signed in May in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, to enhance security in their common border areas through joint patrols, and also the need for Chad, CAR and Cameroon to pursue the Tripartite Initiative, signed in 2005 to enhance border security.
Members of the Council voiced deep concern over the recruitment and the acquisition of weapons by the armed group known as Front Populaire pour le Redressement (FPR), stressing that those activities threatened peace and security in CAR and are a violation of FPR's commitments to lay down its arms and join the peace process.
Condemning the continued violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, including the recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming, rape, sexual slavery and violence, and abductions perpetrated by armed groups, especially the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), the Council urged BINUCA to report on human rights violations particularly those against children and women.
The Council also welcomed efforts by the Government to combat the LRA, as well as the African Union's Regional Cooperation Initiative for the elimination of the LRA and the appointment of an African Union Special Envoy to coordinate the initiative.
Dec 21 2011 2:10PM
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