UN warns against early peacekeeper withdrawal from Central African Republic

The UN’s envoy to the Central African Republic urged the Security Council on 20 October to avoid an early withdrawal of peacekeepers, warning that violence near the Sudan border threatens fragile gains as the Council prepares to renew the MINUSCA mission’s mandate, UN News reported.

Valentine Rugwabiza, who heads MINUSCA, asked the Council to maintain adequate troop levels and capabilities during what she called a ‘critical consolidation phase’. The Council must decide before mid-November whether to renew the mission’s mandate, according to UN News.

Violence near the Sudan border

The UN report also described continuing insecurity in the northeast and southeast, particularly around mining sites and routes used by pastoral farmers. In the southeast, it recorded 26 serious incidents between June and September attributed to suspected members of the Lord’s Resistance Army, including the abduction of 68 civilians, about 40 of them children.

Peace gains and pressure on civilians

The security warning comes alongside progress in disarmament and local government. According to UN News, 1,907 fighters had been disarmed and demobilised since July 2025, though economic reintegration remained difficult and some former fighters could not be located. By 1 October, 127 of the country’s 177 municipalities had installed councils; remaining polls were scheduled for 25 October.

Nearly two million people in the Central African Republic faced acute food insecurity between April and August, UN News reported. It said the UN humanitarian plan was 46.6% funded at the beginning of October. In its statement to the Council, the UK also cited more than 416,000 people displaced within the country and around two million facing food insecurity.

What the Security Council is considering

UN News reported that the Secretary-General had recommended extending MINUSCA’s mandate for one year while preserving military capabilities for rapid intervention. The mission had more than 12,000 peacekeepers and had closed some bases in areas considered sufficiently stable while shifting toward longer-range patrols and support for Central African forces.

In a statement delivered at the Security Council on 20 October, UK Deputy Political Coordinator Jess Jambert-Gray welcomed progress on elections and disarmament but warned that regional insecurity, including spillover from Sudan, put those gains at risk. She said any MINUSCA transition should be gradual, based on conditions and guided by the situation on the ground. The Council has yet to decide the mandate’s future.