UN / CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

STORY: UN / CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
TRT: 3:39
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 23 JUNE 2021, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

FILE

1.Exterior shot, UN Headquarters

23 JUNE 2021, NEW YORK CITY

2.Wide shot, Security Council in session
3.SOUNDBITE (French) Mankeur Ndiaye, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Central African Republic:
“Je reste préoccupé par les conséquences négatives générées par la contre-offensive militaire des forces de défense et de sécurité, et les forces bilatérales et autres personnels de sécurité, pour anéantir la guérilla imposée par la CPC. Nous vivons actuellement, au centre et au nord-ouest de la RCA, une guerre asymétrique avec les groupes armés de la CPC majoritairement responsables des violations graves des droits de l’Homme. Il en a résulté une crise humanitaire sans précédent avec de nouvelles vagues de déplacements et 57 % de la population qui requiert une assistance humanitaire.”
[“I remain concerned about the negative consequences generated by the military counter-offensive of the defense and security forces, and the bilateral forces and other security personnel, to destroy the guerrillas imposed by the CPC. We are currently living, in the center and north-west of the CAR, an asymmetrical war with the armed groups of the CPC mainly responsible for serious violations of human rights. This has resulted in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with new waves of displacement and 57 percent of the population requiring humanitarian assistance.”]
4.Wide shot, Security Council in session
5.SOUNDBITE (French) Mankeur Ndiaye, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Central African Republic:
“Le contexte sécuritaire actuel n’épargne pas non plus les acteurs humanitaires, qui oeuvrent pour palier une crise exacerbée par la pandémie de COVID-19, les violences de la CPC et les opérations à son encontre. Le nombre de déplacés internes a atteint un niveau sans précédent depuis 2014. Des évictions forcées de personnes déplacées ont même eu lieu début juin dans un site d’élevage de Bambari, lieu protégé par le droit international humanitaire.”
[“The current security context also does not spare humanitarian actors, who are working to alleviate a crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the violence of the CPC and the operations against it. The number of internally displaced persons has reached an unprecedented level since 2014. Forced evictions of internally displaced persons even took place in early June at a caw-raising site in Bambari, a place protected by international humanitarian law.”]
6.Wide shot, Security Council in session
7.SOUNDBITE (French) Mankeur Ndiaye, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Central African Republic:
“Alors que 57 % de la population a besoin d’assistance et de protection et que 700 000 personnes sont exposées à la famine, les travailleurs humanitaires ont été 225 fois la cible d’attaques sur les cinq premiers mois de l’année 2021. Les pillages et la militarisation d’infrastructures civiles comme les écoles et les hôpitaux, entravent l’accès - déjà insuffisant - aux services de base. En plus de compromettre la protection des civils et l’assistance humanitaire, la situation actuelle érode le tissu social et nuit aux efforts de paix et de stabilité.”
[“While 57 percent of the population is in need of assistance and protection and 700,000 people are at risk of starvation, aid workers have been the target of attacks 225 times in the first five months of 2021. Looting and militarization of civilian infrastructure such as schools and hospitals hamper access - already insufficient - to basic services. In addition to compromising the protection of civilians and humanitarian assistance, the current situation is eroding the social fabric and undermining efforts for peace and stability.”]
8.Cutaway, delegates
9.SOUNDBITE (French) Mankeur Ndiaye, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Central African Republic:
“Aujourd’hui plus que jamais, nous avons besoin du soutien du Conseil. Les conditions de mise en oeuvre de notre mandat ont évolué avec des menaces protéiformes. De manière générale, les Casques bleus et le personnel des Nations Unies sont exposés à davantage de risques. Les discours de haine et d’incitation à la violence contre la MINUSCA et des partenaires de la République Centrafricaine se sont multipliés ces derniers mois, toujours alimentés et instrumentalisés par des acteurs proches de la majorité présidentielle.”
[“Now more than ever, we need the support of the Council. The conditions for implementing our mandate have evolved with multifaceted threats. In general, peacekeepers and United Nations personnel are at great risk. Hate speech and incitement to violence against MINUSCA and partners in the Central African Republic have multiplied in recent months, still fueled and instrumentalized by actors close to the presidential majority.”]
10.Splitscreen, remote speakers
11.SOUNDBITE (French) Rita Laranjinha, European Union Managing Director for Africa:
“Central African Republic remains a very fragile country confronted by an acute humanitarian crisis. The entire international community needs to remain engaged and united and continue to respond urgently and appropriately to the pressing needs of the Central African population. The EU was and it will remain one of the closest partners in bringing peace and in reconstruction of democracy. We recently proved that, with our decisive support to elections.”
12.Wide shot, Security Council

STORYLINE:

Aid workers in the Central African Republic (CAR) have been the target of attacks 225 times in the first five months of 2021 and the current situation in the country “is eroding the social fabric and undermining efforts for peace and stability,” the top UN official in the CAR told the Security Council on Wednesday (23 Jun).

“Fifty-seven percent of the population is in need of assistance and protection and 700,000 people are at risk of starvation,” Mankeur Ndiaye, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Central African Republic and the Head of the UN peacekeeping mission, known as MINUSCA said at the meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in the CAR. “Looting and militarization of civilian infrastructure such as schools and hospitals hamper access - already insufficient - to basic services,” he added.

Violent attacks against Blue Helmets are also on the rise in CAR and according to the Secretary-General’s latest report on MINUSCA, there has been “a widespread, unprecedented pattern of incidents,” with a “negative impact on the ability of MINUSCA to implement its mandate and the Mission’s freedom of movement, in some cases seriously endangering its personnel.”

“I remain concerned about the negative consequences generated by the military counter-offensive of the defense and security forces, and the bilateral forces and other security personnel, to destroy the guerrillas imposed by the CPC ( Coalition of Patriots for Change),” said Ndiaye. “We are currently living, in the center and north-west of the CAR, an asymmetrical war with the armed groups of the CPC mainly responsible for serious violations of human rights.”

Special Representative also said “the current security context also does not spare humanitarian actors, who are working to alleviate a crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the violence of the CPC and the operations against it. The number of internally displaced persons has reached an unprecedented level since 2014. Forced evictions of internally displaced persons even took place in early June at a caw-raising site in Bambari, a place protected by international humanitarian law.”

According to the report, one third of the population remained displaced. As at 1 June, approximately 738,000 Central Africans were internally displaced; an additional 688,000 were estimated to be living as refugees in neighbouring countries. Owing to electoral violence, approximately 388,000 people were newly displaced within the country from mid-December 2020 to mid-March 2021, while a further 121,000 people fled to neighbouring countries.

Ndiaye reported that the humanitarian community provided multisectoral assistance to more than 1.2 million people in the first quarter of 2021, notably through civil-military coordination. However, the 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan was only 35 percent funded as of June 20.

“Now more than ever, we need the support of the Council,” said Ndiaye. “The conditions for implementing our mandate have evolved with multifaceted threats. In general, peacekeepers and United Nations personnel are at great risk. Hate speech and incitement to violence against MINUSCA and partners in the Central African Republic have multiplied in recent months, still fueled and instrumentalized by actors close to the presidential majority.”

Speaking at the meeting via videolink, Rita Laranjinha, the European Union Managing Director for Africa said the Central African Republic “remains a very fragile country confronted by an acute humanitarian crisis,” and urged the international community to “remain engaged and united and continue to respond urgently and appropriately to the pressing needs of the Central African population.”

“The EU was and it will remain one of the closest partners in bringing peace and in reconstruction of democracy. We recently proved that, with our decisive support to elections,” she said.