7329th meeting on the situation in the Central African Republic

Although the situation in the Central African Republic remained volatile following the recent violence in Bangui, the political process was once again moving forward, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council this morning.
In the wake of agreements reached among stakeholders in the country, the region and international partners to request the mediator to extend the transition period by six months until August 2015, preparations were actively under way to lay the groundwork for the Bangui Forum on National Reconciliation early next year, said Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations.
Also briefing the Council, Raimonda Murmokaitė of Lithuania and Chair of the Central African Republic Sanctions Committee established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013), said the sanctions regime should not be seen as a punitive measure, but as a tool for collaborative engagement.
The Committee had requested, she noted, the six Member States neighbouring the Central African Republic to convey annually complete statistics on the import and export of natural resources, including diamonds and gold. The Committee also urged exporters, importers, processors and consumers of Central African diamonds to mitigate the risk of exacerbating the conflict in the Central African Republic.
The meeting began at 10:10 a.m. and ended at 10:41 a.m.