Six months after the Security Council renewed its mandate for one year, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) is conducting a midterm review of the implementation of Resolution 2800 and presenting its priorities through November.
During the Mission’s press conference held today in Bangui, the Mission’s spokesperson noted that “over the past six months, MINUSCA has focused the bulk of its efforts and available resources on three priority tasks under its mandate within the broader framework of its mission to protect civilians: Support for the 2025–2026 electoral cycle, support for the implementation of the Peace Agreement, and support for the extension of State authority.”
Florence Marchal emphasized that the Mission “is currently concluding its mandate to support the electoral cycle”. A mandate that “MINUSCA has fully and successfully implemented”, according to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Central African Republic and Head of MINUSCA, Valentine Rugwabiza.
The spokesperson highlighted the technical, logistical, financial, security, and good-offices support provided by MINUSCA, which enabled the “peaceful and orderly” conduct of the elections on 28 December 2025, and 26 April 2026. She emphasized that on 26 April, “all 3,435 polling stations opened”, allowing Central Africans to exercise their right to vote “without coercion or fear”, including in the subprefectures of Haut-Mbomou, “particularly in Bambouti, where voters had been unable to cast their ballots last December due to violence”. She noted that this success resulted “from exemplary collaboration between MINUSCA and the Central African Defense and Security Forces” in implementing the Integrated Elections Security Plan (PISE).
MINUSCA also ensured the rapid transport of election results to the National Electoral Authority’s (ANE) processing center, transporting more than 11 tons of equipment via special flights and secured road convoys. Before concluding this first point, Florence Marchal clarified that “the Mission was not involved in observing the elections and is not involved in the counting of votes nor in the announcement of results, which fall exclusively under the responsibility of the National Electoral Authority (ANE)”.
The second priority of the mandate was to support the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in the Central African Republic (APPR), which involved providing ongoing support to the Implementation Unit for the National Program on Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration, and Repatriation (UEPNDDR). Since 19 April 2025, and the return of the UPC and 3R armed groups to the Peace Agreement, 1,331 combatants have been disarmed and demobilized with technical, logistical, financial, and security support from MINUSCA.
MINUSCA’s support for the Peace Agreement is also reflected in its backing of local conflict prevention mechanisms, which, according to the spokesperson, “play a vital role in preventing conflicts through dialogue”. As an example, she mentioned the “24 mediation and conflict resolution activities related to transhumance” supported by the Mission in March.
Finally, Florence Marchal emphasized the importance of local elections, one of the provisions of the APPR, organized with MINUSCA’s support for “the first time since 1988, thereby paving the way for accelerated decentralization through elected local authorities”.
The third priority concerns the restoration and extension of State authority. The spokesperson stated that MINUSCA’s support has made it possible to bring “the 20 prefectures and the vast majority of sub-prefectures” fully operational. The Mission has renovated or constructed and equipped buildings housing public services and supports the “deployment of civil servants, magistrates, and elements of the Central African Defense and Security Forces to ensure an increasingly comprehensive security coverage across the Central African territory”.
Florence Marchal went on to state that “the cumulative and combined effect of these actions and activities carried out by MINUSCA contribute to visible political, institutional, and security stability in the Central African Republic”, adding that “in this context of positive progress, MINUSCA’s role is expected to gradually evolve toward a phase of supporting the Central African authorities in order to consolidate the gains made in terms of security, peace, access, and State authority”.
The spokesperson explained that “this development is driven both by the current situation in the Central African Republic and by our mandate, which explicitly refers to it.It is within this framework that MINUSCA is currently conducting its reconfiguration. In practical terms, we are reorganizing our presence on the ground. All components of the Mission: military, police, and civilian, are involved. We have one guiding principle: strengthened operational agility and mobility to enable rapid responses whenever necessary”.
According to Florence Marchal, the ongoing reconfiguration “reflects the Mission’s adaptation to its local environment in light of the progress made over the years, as well as the global context marked by the financial constraints facing the United Nations and peacekeeping operations, which in turn affect MINUSCA”. It is “the natural evolution of a peacekeeping mission” and this is taking place “without altering or diminishing our commitment to lasting stabilization and peace in the Central African Republic”.
In conclusion, the spokesperson paid tribute to journalists on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, celebrated on 3 May, quoting the statement by the United Nations Secretary-General: “Without press freedom, there can be no human rights, no sustainable development. Without it, there can be no peace. On this World Press Freedom Day, let us protect the rights of journalists and build a world where the truth – and truth-tellers – are safe”.
