13 December 2024
Spotlighting Central African States’ renewed commitment to multilateralism, Abdou Abarry, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) briefed the Security Council today on positive political developments in the region amid ongoing violence and security threats.
Abdou Abarry said that, in Rwanda, the 15 July presidential and legislative elections, according to the observation mission of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), “were held in a peaceful and calm environment”. On 29 December, Chad will conclude its political transition, with legislative, provincial and local elections being held to finalize the establishment of the institutions provided for in the Fifth Republic’s Constitution. Burundi, Cameroon, Gabon and the Central African Republic will hold legislative or presidential elections in 2025, while Congo and Sao Tome and Principe will hold presidential elections in 2026.
Highlighting their “good working relations” with the UN, he said Chad, Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon and the Central African Republic have all requested UN electoral assistance. Gabon held a peaceful referendum without restrictions on freedom of speech or information, he said, adding that the authorities have accepted more than 30 observer organizations for the process. Meanwhile, in Sao Tome and Principe — “a model of peaceful handovers of power in Central Africa” — the authorities plan to revise the 2003 Constitution to adapt the institutional framework to the country’s social and political realities.
In Cameroon, ahead of the 2025 presidential election, Elections Cameroon, the body in charge of organizing the process, has agreed to reinstate 120,000 voters on the electoral roll, who had previously been removed due to biometric data-related issues. However, preparations for elections in Cameroon are taking place against a backdrop of continuing destabilizing activities by separatist groups in the north-west and south-west of the country, he pointed out. Meanwhile, Chad and other countries of the Lake Chad Basin region continue to suffer attacks by groups affiliated to Boko Haram or dissidents. He advocated for strengthening of the Joint Multilateral Force. Noting Chad’s role as a host country for more than 1.2 million refugees, he urged funding for the country’s Humanitarian Response Plan and regional security plans.
Turning to other regional challenges, he reported that, since the start of 2024, almost all Central African countries have been affected by deadly floods, displacing more than 3.2 million people and exacerbating social and economic tensions. However, despite the Congo Basin Forest’s strategic role in global climate regulation, less than 15 per cent of international commitments to Central Africa have been honoured. Also, the region’s “worrisome humanitarian situation” is made more complex by the outbreak of the monkeypox, whose epicentre is in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he said. As such, ECCAS, in collaboration with UNOCA, is planning a summit of Heads of State and Government in February 2025.
Notwithstanding these issues, he said: “The States of Central Africa have shown their political will and their capacity to overcome their differences in a peaceful manner.” Detailing bilateral efforts to peacefully settle disputes, he said the tripartite summit scheduled for 15 December in Luanda will be another important milestone in the search for a negotiated solution to the crisis in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He voiced hope that Central Africa will in the new year ahead see peace, stability, justice and prosperity, in line with their commitments to a reinvigorated multilateralism.