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Ambassadorial-Level Meeting of the Peacebuilding Commission on the impact of COVID19 on peacebuilding in the Central Africa region 9 June 2020 Chair’s Summary

Attachments

  1. On 9 June, the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) convened an Ambassadorial-level meeting on the impact of COVID-19 on peacebuilding in Central Africa region. The meeting, held on a virtual platform and chaired by H.E. Mr. Marc-André Blanchard, Permanent Representative of Canada and Chair of the PBC, provided an opportunity for the PBC to discuss for the first time the implications of COVID-19 for peacebuilding and sustaining peace in Central Africa, with a focus on support to national and regional efforts to fill critical funding gaps that have emerged due to the pandemic, while sustaining peace gains. The Chair informed of the demise of President Nkurunziza of Burundi, of which news was announced during the meeting, conveying his condolences to the Burundian government and people, and requested for a minute of silence.

  2. Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa,
    François Louncény Fall, highlighted that the spread of the pandemic as well as some of the short-term prevention and mitigation measures are exacerbating long standing challenges in Central Africa, where countries are under enormous pressure to fight a battle on multiple fronts, including in the socioeconomic sectors, and to ensure peace and security. The medium and long-term economic impact in the region remains immeasurable, while illicit activities by criminal and armed groups have flourished, such as the intensification of Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon and Chad, as well as the Gulf of Guinea becoming the global epicentre of maritime piracy in recent years. Furthermore, three out of 11 countries, namely Angola, Cameroon and the Central African Republic will have organized elections by the end of 2020.

In 2021, elections are scheduled in as many as six countries. In view of the required reallocation of resources to help address the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increased risk of a shortage of funds to organize elections. In this regard, SRSG Fall called on the PBC to continue its investments in good governance in Central Africa within the framework of the Africa Union’s 2063 Agenda. He also pointed out that ECCAS member States’ endeavour to combat the COVID-19 coincides with the ECCAS institutional reform aimed at restructuring the Regional Economic Community, within the framework of the Africa Peace and Security Architecture, to enable the countries in Central Africa to better address their challenges. He called on the PBC and other international partners to extend their support to this reform process. SRSG Fall informed that in April, the UN Office in West Africa, UNOWAS and regional partners had inaugurated the Regional Task Force for the Regional Strategy for Stabilization, Recovery and Resilience of the Boko Haram affected areas of the Lake Chad Basin Region. He underscored that the peak of the pandemic in Central Africa is ‘yet to be on the horizon”. As countries in the subregion continue to fight on multiple fronts, showing solidarity at the continental and regional levels, stronger international support is awaited. He proposed that PBSO sign a MOU