UN Security Council to visit CAR, Burundi, AU headquarters

Members of the UN Security Council will visit Burundi, Central African Republic (CAR) and the headquarters of the African Union (AU) later this month, the president of the council announced here Tuesday.

Ambassador Francois Delattre, the French permanent representative to the United Nations, made the announcement to reporters here in his capacity of this month's president of the council. France took over the rotating council presidency on Sunday from Liu Jieyi, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations.

The first stop will be CAR, the first visit by the 15-nation UN body since the beginning of the crisis in the country in 2013, Delattre said at a press conference to brief the press here on the council's program of work for March. The visit will start on March 10, according to the program.

CAR, the resource-rich but impoverished country, borders violence-wracked South Sudan, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Plagued by decades of instability and fighting, CAR witnessed a resurgence of violence in December 2013 when the Seleka rebels launched a series of attacks, culminating in March 2014 when then President Francois Bozize was forced to flee the city as they seized control of the capital.

Over the past year, the country has experienced a major political crisis which has resulted in a violent conflict that has affected nearly the entire population and has left some 2.5 million people, over half the population, in dire need of assistance.

The security situation continues to deteriorate, with community tensions and sectarian violence on the rise. More than a million people have fled their homes for safety. The humanitarian consequences of the crisis are being felt across the region.

Delattre said the council will demonstrate support for the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), charged with the protection of civilians, support for the political transition process, justice and the rule of law, facilitating humanitarian assistance and supporting the disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and repatriation processes.

He said the council visit would also signal support for transitional authorities at a "key time" when MINUSCA is reaching its authorized strength of 12,000 personnel, the national reconciliation organization holds local consultations leading to elections and as "the security situation is progressively improving."

Ethnic tensions in the north of CAR and the presence of the Lord's Resistance Army, an armed group known for its brutal tactics, have added to instability, which has crippled the country for decades and driven people away from their homes.

The United Nations has been supporting the CAR for more than a decade. Efforts on the ground are led by the BINUCA, a field office of the UN Department of Political Affairs.

The second stop is Addis Ababa, AU headquarters, for meetings with the body he called a "key partner for the maintenance of peace and security in Africa," he said, adding that one of the main topics will be "the atrocities of Boko Haram" in and around Nigeria.

The third and final stop during the four day visit to Africa will be in Burundi, "which has stabilized, after a difficult time, with the active support of the United Nations. Now, what's important is to, lastingly, build peace in Burundi," Delattre said.

Burundi has had political unrest amidst an influx of refugees from conflicts in the Great Lakes region of central Africa. Endite