CAR – 31 July 2014
Thousands of CAR children are starving
UN predicts more than 100,000 children will suffer from malnutrition this year despite end of sectarian fighting. Aid workers in the Central African Republic have warned that thousands of the country’s children are starving. After two years of war between the majority-Muslim Seleka and Christian armed groups, many are left in a country so ravaged, there is not enough food to survive. The warring groups have only recently signed a peace deal.
Al Jazeera
CAR armed factions sign ceasefire pact
Representatives of the majority-Muslim Seleka have signed a ceasefire agreement with Christian factions to end fighting in the Central African Republic. The signing of the pact on Wednesday in Brazzaville, the capital of neighboring Republic of Congo, came after heavy pressure from regional mediators, aims to put an end to months of sectarian violence. It is not clear if the ceasefire will be respected by the fighters in Central African Republic. Representing the Seleka faction was Mohamed Moussa Dhaffane. CAR has been gripped by ethnic and religious violence since northern Seleka rebels seized power in the predominantly Christian nation in 2013.
Al Jazeera
Senior UN Officials Welcome Signing of Central African Republic Ceasefire
Senior United Nations officials have welcomed the signing of an agreement on the cessation of hostilities by the parties in the Central African Republic (CAR) and highlighted the need to follow this up with national reconciliation and reconstruction efforts. The agreement was signed yesterday in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, at the end of a three-day forum that brought together heads of State, including CAR’s interim president Catherine Samba-Panza, representatives of civil society organizations, political parties and armed groups, as well as refugees. The Secretary-General’s Special Representatives for Central Africa, Abdoulaye Bathily, and for CAR, Babacar Gaye, saluted the spirit that prevailed at the Brazzaville forum.
UN News Service
Ban appoints Cameroonian general to lead UN peacekeeping force
As the United Nations “re-hats” some of the African troops currently serving in the Central African Republic to a peacekeeping mission that will take over in mid-September, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced that the current African force commander will remain in charge under the UN flag. Major General Martin Chomu Tumenta has been appointed to head the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), according to a statement from a UN spokesperson.
The Major General will take up his appointment when MINUSCA officially takes authority from the African-led International Support Mission in the country (MISCA), which he now leads.
UN News