Central African Republic - Security Council, 10269th meeting

The 10,269th meeting of the Security Council is called to order. The provisional agenda for this meeting is the situation in the Central African Republic. The agenda is adopted. In accordance with rule 37 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of the Central African Republic to participate in this meeting. It is so decided. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of item 2 of the agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2026/899, the text of a draft resolution submitted by France. The Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements before the votes. And I give the floor to the representative of France.

Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, it's a new phase that's opening for the Central African Republic. And I would like to greet the representative here. The progress over the recent years are very real, as we can see in the elections that were held, the advancement in the peace process, the extension of the state authority throughout the territory of the country. This progress remain fragile and remain threatened by volatile security situation, in particular in border areas in the northeast and southeast of the country. The situation In bordering states, Sudan, first and foremost, is an undeniable risk of destabilization. Under these conditions, what is a must here is a consolidation of accomplishments, in particular in the security area, to make sure that they are irreversible and to ensure that peace and security take root in a lasting manner in the country. Madam President, the text on which we are going to vote now means to provide MINUSCA, the means to accompany the Central African Republic at this critical point. And this provides a new cap for MINUSCA. Within its mandate, it is consolidation of achievements. It's fixing the troop ceilings, which is adjusted to the new goals. It provides support for MINUSCA and their support for the state, in particular in the border areas, and the deployment of security forces and a pilot pilot project of the Garrison Army. And this, together with the efforts by the Central African Republic, will continue in terms of demobilization and reintegration, combating impunity, and upholding human rights. The goal here is to create the conditions for when the time comes, the Central African Republic can shoulder its responsibility and provide for a successful transition then. This new mandate opens a pathway on the basis of joint planning with the host state of the transfer of responsibility done sequentially, and to condition the situation on the ground. Madam President. The text that we are putting forth today came out of an in-depth and constructive discussions, which was held with all of the members of the Council, as well as with the Central African Republic. I would like to thank them for their contribution, which allowed us to come up with a balanced text in which we tried to include the priorities of everyone, whilst being guided by the future prosperity of the CAR and the the Council, it will show that we can come up with tangible results, and we hope that the Council will unanimously vote in favour. I thank you.

The representative of France for the statement. And I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now. Will those in favour of the draft resolution contained in document S/2026/899 please raise their hand? The result of the voting is as follows: The draft resolution received 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2836 of 2026. I now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements after the vote. I give the floor to the representative of Liberia.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the A3, namely the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, and my own country, Liberia. The A3 voted in favor of the resolution renewing MONUSCO's mandate until 15th November 2027. We believe Central African Republic's progress must be consolidated through a responsible transition. We thank the penholder and Council members for their constructive engagement. We welcome the electoral milestones achieved since December 2025, but urge timeless support to complete the remaining electoral processes, address financial constraints, and strengthen inclusive governance with the full participation of women and youth. The successful sunsetting of MINUSCA's Electoral Assistance Division stands as tangible proof that national ownership is taking root. The extension of state authority and progress in implementing the 2019 Political Agreement and the 2025 N'Djamena Agreements are also laudable developments for which we commend the CAR government, MINUSCA, and regional partners, particularly Chad. More than 1,900 combatants have been disarmed since July 2025. Sustaining this progress, however, requires adequate, predictable, and sustainable funding for reintegration and community violence reduction, alongside the full participation of women and youth in peace consolidation. Madam President, the A3 supports a gradual, nationally-owned, and conditions-based transition developed jointly by the Government and MINUSCA. The transfer of responsibilities must strengthen national institutions and their ability to protect civilians. Its pace should follow demonstrated capacity and security conditions on the ground. National ownership must be matched by sustained international partnership. Persistent insecurity in border areas, particularly Vakaga, and spillover from the war in Sudan demand continued vigilance. We condemn cross-border incursions by armed groups and stress the importance of regional cooperation to protect civilians and prevent further destabilization. The liquidity crisis must not undermine mandate implementation. Member States should pay assessed contributions in full, on time, and without conditions. As responsibilities are transferred, the United Nations country team and national institutions need the resources and capacity to carry them out. A task handed over must remain a task delivered. We reaffirm our support for the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of the Central African Republic. We pay tribute to Special Representative Valentin Ragabiza, MINUSCA civilian and uniformed personnel, and all troop and police contributing countries. The measure of a successful transition will be the lasting security of the Central African Republic. And I thank you.

I thank the representative of Liberia for the statement, and I will now give the floor to the representative of China.

Thank you, President. Over the years, MINUSCA has played an important role in areas such as supporting the political process, maintaining security and stability, and extending State authority in the Central African Republic. The resolution just adopted renews the mandate of MINUSCA for one year. which is conducive to MINUSCA continuing to help the CAR consolidate existing gains. China welcomes this and voted in favor of this resolution. We appreciate the efforts made by the penholder to build consensus among parties. President, the CAR has entered an important stage of consolidating the gains of peace and enhancing its own capacities. The CAR government bears the primary responsibility for maintaining peace and stability and advancing development construction in the CAR. The international community should fully respect the sovereignty and ownership of the CAR and support the CAR government in actively advancing the cause of peace and development in accordance with its national conditions and priorities. while strengthening communication and coordination with neighbouring countries with a view to achieving common security. China supports MINUSCA in fulfilling its duties as mandated by the Security Council. We hope that MINUSCA will take into full consideration the political and security situation in the CAR, uphold a gradual, operations-led and results-oriented approach, focus on priority tasks, enhancing the effectiveness of its work, and steadily advance the transition process. We encourage the CAR government, with the support of international partners, to continuously strengthen its own capacity building and prepare for the grandeur handover of responsibilities from MINUSCA. China stands ready to work with parties to make new contributions to achieving lasting peace and stability, development, and prosperity in the CAR. I thank you.

I thank the representative of China for the statement, and I will now give the floor to the representative of the United States.

Thank you, Madam President. Successful peacekeeping missions work themselves out of a job. Thanks to MINUSCA, the situation in the Central African Republic is improving. Today, there is expanded state authority and increased security gains across the country. We must consider what comes next. MINUSCA’s identification of a political end state and its diligent, efficient, strategic work toward that goal has moved the country forward and the mission into consolidation and transition. As a Council, we should strive for all missions to follow MINUSCA’s example. We should maintain political pressure on the parties to enable the peacekeeping mission’s completion and departure. We should also hold missions accountable for making progress toward this same goal. This resolution recognizes MINUSCA’s progress and underscores the responsibility of the CAR government to work with the mission on its upcoming transition. With this mandate, the Security Council is positioning MINUSCA for an eventual exit as conditions continue to improve. That is why the United States voted yes today. Today’s mandate lowers the uniformed personnel ceiling in the mission, which better reflects the conditions on the ground and aligns with MINUSCA’s reconfiguration. The mandate also removes electoral tasks from the mission’s mandate in recognition of CAR’s recent elections. The United States is committed to refocusing the UN Security Council on the basics of advancing international peace and security. The United States thanks France. for its efforts to streamline and shorten MINUSCA’s mandate, as well as to incorporate U.S. edits within the final text. We have seen significant progress in CAR, but much remains to be done. We encourage MINUSCA and the CAR government to continue working together to consolidate peace and security gains and move toward a future without a UN peacekeeping presence. I thank you.

I thank the representative of the United States for the statement, and I give the floor to the representative of Greece.

Thank you, Madam President. We welcome the unanimous adoption of the resolution renewing the mandate of MINUSCA, and I wish to thank the penholder, France, for its leadership and constructive engagement throughout the negotiations. We are pleased that the resolution ensures adequate resources, including military personnel, for the peacekeeping mission to carry out its mandate effectively and safely while addressing ongoing security challenges. These resources are essential as the Central African Republic enters the important phase of consolidating the gains achieved over recent years. The renewed mandate provides MINUSCA with the necessary capabilities to protect civilians, support the extension of state authority, and contribute to a stable environment in which peace can take firm root. At the same time, we underline the importance of maintaining close cooperation between MINUSCA and the Government of the Central African Republic. We encourage continued efforts to advance the necessary conditions for a gradual, orderly, and sustainable transition of responsibilities to the national authorities. In this regard, we thank MINUSCA for its dedicated service and commitment, and we express our appreciation to all Troup and police contributing countries for their continued commitment and valuable contribution to the work of the mission. Their dedication remains essential to the effective implementation of its mandate. Finally, Greece, also beyond its current term as an elected member of the Security Council, will continue to support the people of the Central African Republic in their efforts to consolidate peace, strengthen stability, and build a peaceful and prosperous future for their country. I thank you.

I thank Greece, the representative of Greece, for the statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of the Central African Republic.

Madam President, allow me first of all to thank you for conducting our work and for the Latvian Presidency this month of November. I would like to thank France, the penholder on this resolution, for its availability and patiently pursuing a text that has brought the Council together. I thank the A3 group, which promoted the need for lasting peace and the need to listen to the country concerned. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the members of this Council for having taken the time to listen to the CAR’s concerns and for having contributed to translating those concerns into the resolution. I would above all like to underscore the significance of the unanimous vote that has just taken place. After frank, sometimes difficult consultations, the Council was able to overcome its disagreements over the future of the mission to affirm a common responsibility This result does not belong to any one delegation. It belongs to a collective commitment to peace in the Central African Republic. We receive this not as the victory of one position over another, but rather as a show of confidence that we need to respond to with results. Madam President. Throughout these negotiations, the members of the Council have naturally expressed different ideas about what MINUSCA should be in the future, regarding the tasks that it should keep and the role that national institutions should play, as well as the pace of change. Those ideas demonstrate the evolution in the attention that you are paying to the CAR. There is one conviction that I would equally frankly like to clarify, and that is that decisions relating to the future of a peace mission must be taken with the country that will live with the consequences of those decisions. National ownership must not be a formula that we recall in resolutions and then forget when it comes time to implement them. It requires listening to the government, taking its evaluation of the risks seriously, involving its institutions in planning, and together making sure that the conditions are ripe before transferring responsibility. It also presupposes that the government is aware of its own commitments. A genuine partnership does not free anyone of their obligations, rather it allows everyone to shoulder those responsibilities. Madam President, The Central African Republic is no longer in the situation that prevailed when MINUSCA was deployed in 2014. National institutions have steadily been rebuilt. The elections of December 2025 and April 2026 were an important step in the expansion of the State’s authority. The APPR is continuing to produce results. The resolution recognizes progress made in DDR of 11 armed groups. while the process is continuing for other signatories. This progress is the result of the efforts of the people of the Central African Republic, of its government, of MINUSCA, of our partners, troop contributing and police contributing countries, and neighbouring countries. We have every reason to consider the Central African Republic as an example of reconstruction that is bearing fruit, but acknowledging progress should never lead us to underestimate what still needs to be done. The Secretary General's report reminds us this dual reality, political and security progress, real progress has been made, but there are still persistent threats, particularly in border areas. The violence in Amdafok in Waka prefecture led to the displacement of thousands of civilians and injured blue helmets. During the briefing to the council, the special representative demonstrated how air capacity and Minusca's rapid response was decisive in addressing this crisis. Any reconfiguration must where the risks remain high, preserve the capacity needed to prevent violence and effectively protect civilians. We take note of the new troop ceilings, the new uniformed personnel ceilings, and we hope that mobility, aviation, early warning, rapid reaction, and logistical support capacities will be commensurate with the responsibilities entrusted to the mission. A better targeted presence can be a more effective presence, but it should not become an absence where the population still needs protection. The situation on the borders, particularly the repercussions of the conflict in Sudan, requires particular vigilance. Our priority is still to strengthen surveillance of sensitive areas, cooperation with our neighbors, and the progressive deployment of the national forces. Thus, the protection of civilians and the preservation of the territorial integrity can be incorporated within the same strategy. Madam President, The year 2027 should be the year of a planned transition rather than one that is just announced. The interministerial committee that was put in place by the Government is, in that regard, an important instrument. With MINUSCA, it will allow us to examine responsibilities one by one: those that can be transferred right away, those for which additional support is essential, and those that should continue to be shouldered by the Mission until the conditions for their transfer are met. The success of this method will be based on shared criteria. The security situation must be looked at accurately, the effective presence of the administration, the capacity of the national forces, access to the population, the equipment that is available, and the necessary budgetary resources. We do not want to see a transfer of tasks on paper, which in the real world would allow, would not give the authorities the necessary resources to carry them out. Real capacities must also be provided. In that case, reform of the security sector reform is also essential. The Central African Republic wants to build professional security and defense forces that are responsible, inclusive, and unified, acting according to a clear national chain of command. The integration of former combatants can only be done through mechanisms provided for under the law on the basis of eligibility and verification criteria, which are rigorous. Our objective is to have a national institution that serves all CAR citizens, rather than the deepening of divisions that are resulting from the conflict. We want to prevent any re-enlisting. We must distinguish between the illegal resumption of armed activities from the regular reintegration of elements which have met the national conditions put in place. That clarification is needed to, in order to have confidence in the peace process. We appreciate the support of multilateral and bilateral partners for this reform. The diverse range of those partners is a resource when it is part of a coherent national strategy, with the coordination requirements in place, responsibility and respect for international law that everyone must comply with. The Government intends to fully take on this coordination role, in close coordination with MINUSCA and all of its partners. Peacebuilding also requires the pursuit of DDR, support for lasting socio-economic reintegration, fighting impunity, strengthening justice, including the Special Criminal Court, and the protection of women and children. The success of the transition cannot be measured alone by the reduction of soldiers. It will also be measured in terms of restored confidence, restored trust among citizens and their institutions, and its ability to prevent the return of violence. Madam President, the economic and institutional aspect of this transition cannot be secondary. In many localities, the lasting presence of the State means roads, judges, teachers, health personnel, and administrations that have the means to function. The National Development Plan 2024-2028 provides a national framework for that ambition. We hope that our financial partners, the United Nations organs, and the country team will support moving from a crisis response mindset to one of long-term consolidation. The reports in February, June, and October 2027 should, in this regard, be follow-up and monitoring tools, and we hope that those reports will discuss not only tasks that have been transferred or reconfigurations, but also the effects of those decisions in terms of the protection of the population, the ability, capacities, national institutions, border security, and the continuity of essential services. The CAR government stands ready to work at every stage with MINUSCA and the Secretariat so that evaluations can be done jointly, precisely, and can be rooted in the reality on the ground. Madam President, lastly, I would like to say something about the role that the CER and MINUSCA can occupy in the history of peacekeeping. As we see it, what has been done since 2014 shows that a UN operation can help prevent the collapse of a country, support the return of its institutions, and create the conditions for a different future. We are convinced that MINUSCA is among those operations that best demonstrates the tangible utility of peacekeeping, not because everything is solved, but because it is helping to make possible a solution to a crisis which seemed out of reach. We hope that the CAR's experience will become a textbook case of a successful transition, not one of a mission that left too early, but rather one of a mission that was able to adapt its presence pass on its responsibilities, and leave behind institutions that are capable of preserving peace. That would be a success for the Central African Republic, and it would also be a success for the United Nations and for this Council. we will remember not only that the Council was able to agree on the mandate, but also that it was able to ensure the resources were available to succeed. Thank you.

Central African Republic for the statement. There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers. So the meeting is adjourned.