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United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) and Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) - Security Council Open VTC
Security and other challenges in Central Africa affect West Africa, the Great Lakes and other subregions on the continent, speakers warned during a Security Council video conference meeting on 9 December, calling for greater regional cooperation and coordination to address the root causes of instability and safety threats posed by the Boko Haram insurgents and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
“Insecurity across Central Africa continued to be a source of concern,” said François Louncény Fall, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), in his briefing on the Secretary-General’s latest report on the mission (document S/2020/1154). These security threats, he said, have negatively affected the Lake Chad Basin and the Gulf of Guinea, as well as the internal situation in some Central African countries.
On Cameroon, he deplored that violence in the country’s north-west and south‑west is now targeting civilians, including students, teachers and clergy, reiterating the Secretary-General’s appeal to all concerned parties to renounce violence, silence the guns and stop attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Boko Haram remains a serious threat in the Lake Chad Basin, with the group increasing attacks and kidnappings, he said. Terrorist groups have continued to intensify their attacks in Cameroon and Chad, as seen on 24 and 25 November, when 4 Chadian soldiers were killed and about 16 others were injured after their boat apparently struck an improvised explosive device in the Ngouboua area.
“We cannot stress enough the need to deal with the crisis in the Lake Chad Basin in a comprehensive manner, particularly within the framework of the regional strategy for the stabilization, recovery and resilience of the Boko Haram-affected areas,” he said. Noting that this strategy has been finalized and the eight most‑affected territories are now developing their action plans, he asked Council members and other partners to provide necessary resources for the rapid implementation of the strategy.
He emphasized that the proximity and similarities between the situations in the Lake Chad Basin and in the Sahel justify joint monitoring, analysis of them and the coordination of responses to the challenges they face, also underlining the importance of establishing links between the United Nations integrated strategy for the Sahel and the regional strategy for the Lake Chad Basin to avoid duplication, rationalize the use of resources and ensure that the two reinforce each other.
On the Gulf of Guinea, he said organized maritime crime continued to grow, including drug trafficking, human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, stressing that the responses to these threats will only be effective if they are coordinated between Central Africa and West Africa through the existing interregional coordination centres for maritime security.
Drawing attention to ongoing conflicts between farmers and herders in Central Africa, he said that, on 27 November, the Government of Chad announced that 22 people were killed and 34 others were injured in clashes. He reaffirmed UNOCA’s commitment to continue to support the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in adopting a subregional regulatory framework on pastoralism and transhumance.
LRA is currently present in both Central Africa and the Great Lakes, two regions to which several countries under UNOCA’s purview belong, he said, adding that addressing these threats requires coordination between all affected regions and between the relevant United Nations regional offices.
He also reported that, on 23 November, he and his counterpart from the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA) agreed on a set of joint activities to address the situations in the Lake Chad Basin and the Gulf of Guinea and support the implementation of the Lomé Declaration adopted by ECCAS and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at their 2018 summit on peace, security, stability and the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
He said that heads of United Nations presences in Central Africa agreed on 1 December to reinforce coordination in supporting regional efforts to address the impact of climate change, prevent election-related violence and fight against hate speech. ECCAS has reached a key milestone in its institutional reform process, with the swearing in of its new Commission on 1 September, including its President, Gilberto da Piedade Veríssimo (Angola). UNOCA has been engaging with the new Commission to identify joint priorities for the years ahead, notably on conflict prevention and regional integration, and enhance coordination of international partners for the implementation of the 2021-2025 strategic plan.
Several countries of the subregion have been preparing for the holding of elections, including Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo and Sao Tome and Principe, he said, encouraging national authorities and all political stakeholders to promote continued dialogue and consensus on the conditions governing the elections.
In the ensuing discussion, many Council members expressed support for UNOCA’s ongoing work on conflict prevention and mediation across Central Africa but voiced concern over the crisis in the north-west and south-west regions of Cameroon, where the conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. Some delegates argued that climate change poses a security threat to the subregion and must be addressed through regional and international cooperation.
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