Central African Republic

The Central African Republic (CAR) has been engulfed in violent armed conflict since 2013, and conflict-related insecurity has left women and girls vulnerable to forced marriage, abduction, and especially sexual and gender-based violence; according to the International Development Monitoring Centre, 68% of girls in CAR are married before the age of eighteen. Women in the CAR continue to be largely excluded from peacebuilding and reconstruction efforts and have even been subjected to violence perpetrated by UN peacekeepers. Deployed in April 2014, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA)is mandated to protect women, monitor and report on violations against women, adhere to the zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, ensure women’s full participation in conflict resolution and elections, and incorporate gender as a cross-cutting issue. To further this progress, based on the work of NGOWG members and their partners, the NGOWG advocates for more thorough monitoring of UN peacekeepers in CAR to ensure that no exploitation and abuse occurs on their watch.

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Central African Republic

Women in the CAR continue to be largely excluded from peacebuilding and reconstruction efforts and have even been subjected to violence perpetrated by UN peacekeepers. Deployed in April 2014, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) is mandated to protect women, monitor and report on violations against women, adhere to the zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, ensure women’s full participation in conflict resolution and elections, and incorporate gender as a cross-cutting issue. To further this progress, based on the work of NGOWG members and their partners, the NGOWG advocates for more thorough monitoring of UN peacekeepers in CAR to ensure that no exploitation and abuse occurs on their watch.

Current and Past Recommendations to the UN Security Council (Monthly Action Points)

Central African Republic (August 2013)

The Council is expected to discuss the situation in the Central African Republic (CAR), where civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, as inaction on the part of the Security Council has allowed exacerbation of the human rights and humanitarian crisis. In its discussion of the report on the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA), the Council should seriously consider taking steps to ensure accountability and the protection of civilians to curb the human rights violations and abuses now taking place in CAR. The Council should ensure its actions address women’s protection concerns and overcoming barriers to women’s participation, particularly by supporting local civil society efforts to develop coherent strategies to promote women’s political participation. The Council should press the CAR government to ensure conditions are restored to enable the UN and other international actors to resume work in service provision and human rights monitoring through the BINUCA Human Rights and Justice unit. The Council should inquire into accountability for atrocities committed by the LRA, including efforts being made to ensure justice systems are established and LRA leaders are apprehended, inter alia transfer to the ICC of those persons under arrest warrants by the Court. Finally, there should be concrete efforts made to provide technical assistance and capacity building on the issue of human rights as a component of BINUCA’s work in the country.