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STORY: UN / CENTRAL AFRICA UNOCA
TRT: 03:19
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: FRENCH / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 11 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN headquarters
11 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Abdou Abarry, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Africa and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA):
“The Central African Republic is preparing on 28 December to hold a historic quadruple election combining legislative, regional, municipal, and presidential polls. This is an opportunity to commend the remarkable recovery of the country, which is laying the foundations for peace consolidation among domestic actors and has undertaken measures to secure its borders, notably with Chad and Cameroon. The financing of the 2024–2028 National Development Plan by the country’s partners, amounting to 9 billion dollars, is further proof of this recovery.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Abdou Abarry, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Africa and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA):
“While we are aware of the financial difficulties our Organization is currently facing, we cannot ignore the impact they have on the functioning of the Office and its ability to adequately implement its mandate. The 20 percent reduction in staff, as well as the restrictions—or even the impossibility—of traveling to countries in the region due to a lack of resources, seriously hampers our ability to carry out our good offices in a region that greatly needs them.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Christelle Hurè, Regional Head of Advocacy for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC):
“The education situation in Central Africa is alarming. As of August 2025, nearly 5800 schools were closed, leaving over 1.2 million children out of school. Attacks including looting, arson, killings, abductions and intimidation remain frequent. These attacks interact with existing challenges such as poverty, weak infrastructure, limited access to trained teachers. In some areas, these attacks can reverse decades of educational progress. In addition, when school doors close, protection risks rise sharply, especially for girls who face increased exposure to gender-based violence, child marriage, early pregnancy, child labor, and recruitment by armed groups.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrew Curiel, Deputy Political Counselor, United States:
“The United States condemns the increasing violence and disregard for human life perpetrated by Boko Haram, ISIS, West Africa and other terrorist groups that attack and displace civilians in the Lake Chad Basin region. We encourage our African partners to take a stronger lead in addressing their own security challenges, and we support their work to counter these threats.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Anna Evstigneeva, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“We do not support the attempt advanced by a number of states, to link the climate agenda to matters of international peace and security, and their attempt to incorporate this issue into the Security Council's agenda. We believe that matters related to adaptation and elimination of the consequences of climate change need to be dealt with by special structures of the UN system.”
12. Wide shot, end of Security Council meeting
“The Central African Republic is preparing on 28 December to hold a historic quadruple election,” the UN’s envoy for Central Africa told the Security Council.
Abdou Abarry, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa, said the polls (legislative, regional, municipal and presidential) mark a turning point as Bangui strengthens peace efforts at home and works to secure borders with Chad and Cameroon. “The financing of the 2024–2028 National Development Plan by the country’s partners, amounting to 9 billion dollars, is further proof of this recovery,” he added.
Abarry also warned that UNOCA’s ability to carry out its mandate is being undermined by funding shortages. “While we are aware of the financial difficulties our Organization is currently facing, we cannot ignore the impact they have on the functioning of the Office,” he said, noting a “20 percent reduction in staff” and travel constraints that “seriously hamper our ability to carry out our good offices in a region that greatly needs them.”
Christelle Hurè of the Norwegian Refugee Council told the Council that education systems across Central Africa are collapsing under the pressure of insecurity. As of August, “nearly 5800 schools were closed, leaving over 1.2 million children out of school,” she said, citing widespread looting, arson, killings, abductions and intimidation. She warned that when “school doors close, protection risks rise sharply,” especially for girls facing gender-based violence, child marriage, early pregnancy, child labor, and recruitment by armed groups.
The United States condemned escalating extremist violence in the Lake Chad Basin. “The United States condemns the increasing violence and disregard for human life perpetrated by Boko Haram, ISIS, West Africa and other terrorist groups,” said Andrew Curiel, encouraging African partners to “take a stronger lead in addressing their own security challenges.”
Russia, meanwhile, pushed back against efforts by some Council members to treat climate change as a security issue. “We do not support the attempt to link the climate agenda to matters of international peace and security,” said Anna Evstigneeva, arguing that climate-related matters should remain with specialized UN bodies.
