Central African Republic

Local militias known as anti-balaka, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and the Front populaire pour la renaissance de la Centrafrique (FPRC), Mouvement patriotique pour la Centrafrique (MPC), and Union pour la paix en Centrafrique (UPC) as part of the former Séléka coalition, are all listed in the annexes of the Secretary-General’s (SG) 2022 annual report (S/2022/493) on children and armed conflict (CAAC) for various grave violations against children. In February, the SG will report on the situation in CAR and MINUSCA, pursuant to SCR 2659 (2022). According to the SG’s October report (S/2022/762), the Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) verified 366 grave violations against children between June and October 2022. Violations included recruitment and use (286), killing and maiming (26), rape and other forms of sexual violence (30), abduction (11), attacks against schools (3), and the denial of humanitarian access (10). In June, the Government held a validation workshop with MINUSCA support to address the handover protocol for children apprehended on the frontlines for alleged association with armed forces and groups for their transfer to representatives of the Ministry for the Promotion of Gender, Family and Protection of Children and child protection partners. In December, the Security Council Working Group on CAAC (SCWG-CAAC) adopted its latest conclusions on CAR. The Security Council should:

• Call on all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL), and to end and prevent grave violations against children, including by engaging with the UN to sign and implement action plans to end and prevent all six grave violations against children; urge the MPC, FPRC, and UPC to fully and swiftly implement their respective action plans and release all children still in their ranks;
• Call on the Government to fully implement all aspects of the Child Protection Code and to ensure perpetrators of grave violations are held accountable and that child survivors of sexual violence have access to comprehensive, gender-sensitive, and age-appropriate response systems and services, and to strengthen preventive measures; encourage the Government to appoint child protection focal points in the armed forces and establish effective measures in cooperation with the UN to end and prevent grave violations by National Defense Forces and other security personnel;
• Urge the adoption and implementation of a handover protocol to facilitate the release of children to civilian child protection actors, prioritizing their reintegration in line with the Paris Principles and Commitments, which the Government has endorsed;
• Call for the swift and full implementation of the recommendations of the SCWG-CAAC elaborated in its fifth conclusions on CAR.

France is the lead country on CAR.

This information is based on Watchlist’s Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update – February 2023.

Year listed: 2007
Action Plans signed: UFDR – recruitment and use of children (June 2007); Mouvement Patriotique pour la Centrafrique – recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and attacks on schools and hospitals (June 2018); Front Populaire pour la Renaissance de la Centrafrique – recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and attacks on schools and hospitals (July 2019); l’Unité pour la paix en Centrafrique – recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and attacks on schools and hospitals (August 2019)
Previous Action Plans: APRD – recruitment and use of children (October 2011) *Party ceased to exist; CPJP – recruitment and use of children (November 2011) *Party ceased to exist
Sanctions Committee: The Central African Republic Sanctions Committee (Current Chair: Niger)
Secretary-General’s reports on CAAC in CAR: 2021; 2019; 2016; 2011; 2009
Security Council Working Group conclusions on CAR: 2020; 2016; 2011; 2009
UN Mission: MINUSCA