Security Council told Central African Republic border areas remain unstable as MINUSCA mandate nears 15 November renewal

Valentine Rugwabiza, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Central African Republic and head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), told the Security Council that security threats endanger progress in the country. She named areas bordering Chad and Sudan in particular. She briefed the Council on the Secretary-General’s report covering 2 June to 2 October. The mission’s mandate is up for renewal on 15 November, and she urged the Council to fund the mission adequately.

“The security situation in the north-east remains a cause of serious concern,” Rugwabiza said. She described an attack on 30 June by armed groups on Am-Dafok, in Vakaga Prefecture, on the Sudan border. She said it killed civilians and members of national security forces, displaced 17,000 civilians and injured 6 MINUSCA peacekeepers. Without MINUSCA’s rapid responses, she said, the attacks would have caused significantly more deaths. She said State authority could not have been restored after only five days of control by the armed group, which retreated across the border into Sudan.

Because the attack came in the rainy season, she said, MINUSCA’s aircraft were the only way to reach Am-Dafok. The mission moved troops and air assets from other priority locations in the north-east to do it. “In this regard, I plead with the Council, as it prepares to renew MINUSCA’s mandate, to maintain MINUSCA with adequate force levels and capabilities during the critical consolidation phase,” she said.

Rugwabiza also reported progress. She said 1,900 fighters have been disarmed and demobilized since July 2025 with the mission’s help. As of the start of October, 127 of 177 municipalities had installed elected officials. The meetings coverage said the country’s electoral authority announced in September that it was suspending the remaining elections, citing operational and financial constraints. UN News, the UN’s news service, reported that the remaining polls are due on 25 October. The sources do not explain the difference. UN News also reported that the UN humanitarian plan was 46.6 per cent funded at the start of October.

Council members differed on pace. France, which holds the pen on the file, said transfers of responsibility “must not be rushed so as not to jeopardize the gains made in recent years”. Russia warned against an “artificially accelerated” transfer that “could prove counterproductive”. It called on all States, Council members included, to pay their assessed contributions in full and on time. The United Kingdom said any transition should be “gradual, carefully sequenced and guided by realities on the ground”.

The United States delegate called on national authorities to lead security sector reform. He said that many speakers cite the risks of a hasty drawdown, but there is also the “risk of a static mission becoming the status quo, instead of a temporary measure to restore peace and security”. He praised the response of Zambian peacekeepers to the 30 June attack. UN News reported that the United States has already argued for larger troop reductions. The sources do not say how any member will vote.

The representative of the Central African Republic said external financial support remains essential. He said: “A worsened security situation could entail a humanitarian and financial cost that far exceeds the short-term savings achieved.” He noted the Secretary-General’s recommendation to renew the mandate for a year while adapting the mission’s capabilities. UN News reported that the mission has more than 12,000 peacekeepers. The sources give no draft resolution text and no budget figure for the renewal.