Security Council Resolution 2709 (2023) [on Extension of the Mandate of the Un Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (Minusca) Until 15 Nov. 2024]

S/RES/2709 (2023)View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Security Council, under agenda item 227 The situation in the Central African Republic, published in 2023.

What other versions does this mandate have?

10 versions · 2016–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is S/RES/2800 (2025)

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	S/RES/2800 (2025)	Security Council resolution 2800 (2025) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) until 15 Nov. 2026]	—	—
2024	S/RES/2759 (2024)	Security Council resolution 2759 (2024) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) until 15 Nov. 2025]	—	—
2023	S/RES/2709 (2023)	Security Council resolution 2709 (2023) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) until 15 Nov. 2024]	—	—
2022	S/RES/2659 (2022)	Security Council resolution 2659 (2022) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) until 15 Nov. 2023]	—	—
2021	S/RES/2605 (2021)	Security Council resolution 2605 (2021) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) until 15 Nov. 2022]	—	—

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

30 reports · 2016–2026

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2026	S/2026/494	Central African Republic report of the Secretary-General	S/RES/2800 (2025)
2026	S/2026/71	Central African Republic report of the Secretary-General	S/RES/2800 (2025)
2025	S/2025/638	Central African Republic report of the Secretary-General	S/RES/2759 (2024)
2025	S/2025/383	Central African Republic report of the Secretary-General	S/RES/2759 (2024)
2025	S/2025/97	Central African Republic report of the Secretary-General	S/RES/2759 (2024)

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 subjects

Central African Republic Internal Security Peace Agreements Peacekeeping Operations

What’s in this document?

112 operative paragraphs

Political process, including the implementation of the APPR, and extension of State authority

Welcomes efforts of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra and his government to promote lasting peace and stability in the CAR through a comprehensive and reinvigorated political and peace process, which includes respect for the ceasefire, an inclusive Republican Dialogue, and implementation of the APPR;

Urges all parties to the conflict in the CAR to respect the ceasefire, urges the signatory armed groups to respect their commitment and calls on the CAR authorities and other signatories to fully implement the APPR in good faith and without delay in order to meet the aspirations of the people of the CAR to peace, security, justice, reconciliation, inclusivity and development, and to resolve their disputes peacefully, including through the follow-up and dispute resolution mechanisms of the APPR, and ensure full, equal and meaningful participation of women and youth in such mechanisms;

Demands that all forms of violence against civilians, United Nations peacekeepers and humanitarian personnel, destabilising activities, incitement to hatred and violence, disinformation campaigns including through social media, restrictions on freedom of movement and obstruction of the electoral process cease immediately and that armed groups lay down their arms and permanently disband in line with their commitments under the APPR;

Strongly condemns all violations of international humanitarian law committed in the CAR, including attacks on the civilian population, MINUSCA peacekeepers and humanitarian actors, as well as human rights abuses and gender-based violence, recalls that individuals or entities that undermine peace and stability in the CAR could be listed for targeted measures pursuant to resolution 2693 (2023), and expresses its readiness to consider such measures for individuals or entities that violate the ceasefire;

Welcomes the continued engagement of the region in support of the peace process, including through the roadmap, calls on neighbouring states, regional organisations and all international partners to support the peace process, in a manner that is coherent and coordinated with the good offices of MINUSCA, including through financial support and strengthened partnerships, and emphasises the important role of the guarantors and facilitators of the APPR, including the AU, the ECCAS, and neighbouring states, using their influence to enhance adherence by armed groups to their commitments;

Calls on the CAR authorities and the authorities of neighbouring countries to cooperate at the regional level to investigate and combat transnational criminal networks and armed groups involved in arms trafficking and in the illegal exploitation of natural resources, calls for the reactivation and regular follow-up of bilateral joint commissions between the CAR and neighbouring countries to address cross-border issues, including issues related to arms trafficking, and take agreed next steps to secure common borders;

Encourages the CAR authorities to cement and broaden national awareness and ownership of the peace and reconciliation process including its extension at the local level, recalls in this regard the crucial role of political parties, including the opposition, civil society and faith-based organisations and the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and youth in this process, and encourages the CAR authorities to continue their efforts towards implementing the recommendations of the Republican dialogue and to urgently implement a genuinely inclusive process to support reconciliation in the CAR by addressing the root causes of the conflict, including local grievances and marginalization, and the cohesion of all the components of society over the whole territory of the CAR, and issues related to transhumance and the illegal exploitation of natural resources, including through national and local electoral processes and implementation of political reforms, provided under the APPR and support the implementation of the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission mandate;

Urges the CAR authorities and all national stakeholders to ensure the preparation of inclusive, free and fair local elections in 2024 and 2025, carried out in a transparent, credible, peaceful and timely manner, in accordance with the Constitution of the CAR of 30 August 2023 and the decisions of the Constitutional Court, with the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women as voters and candidates, including by meeting the quota of at least 35 percent of women as required by the law of the CAR and by addressing risks of harm, including threats, violence and hate speech, and ensuring necessary protection for women in these roles, encourages the meaningful participation of youth, calls on all parties to refrain from incitement to hatred and violence, including through social media platforms, encourages the CAR authorities to align the electoral code with the new Constitution of 30 August 2023 and to update the voter list to include internally displaced persons, refugees, and returnees, as well as newly eligible voters, further encourages the CAR authorities to allow political space for the role, rights and responsibilities of legally constituted political parties, including opposition parties, and also ensure secure conditions for the conduct of elections and unrestricted access to the polls, including through cooperation with MINUSCA, consistent with the Mission’s role regarding the protection of civilians, and encourages the international community to provide adequate support, including technical and financial support as well as observers to the upcoming elections;

Calls upon all parties to respect the civilian and humanitarian character of camps and settlements for IDPs and refugees, as such, also calls upon the CAR authorities to ensure that national policies and legislative frameworks adequately protect the human rights of all displaced persons, including freedom of movement, create conditions conducive to durable solutions for IDPs and refugees on an informed basis, including their voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return, local integration or resettlement, and provide for their participation in the elections;

Urges the CAR authorities to continue addressing the presence and activity of armed groups in the CAR by implementing a comprehensive strategy that prioritises dialogue, in line with the APPR via the roadmap, and to pursue their efforts towards urgent implementation of an inclusive, gender-sensitive and effective DDR process, and incentives, as well as repatriation (DDRR) in the case of foreign fighters, including children formerly associated with armed forces and groups, as well as continuing the implementation of community violence reduction projects, expresses concern about the parallel recruitment of disarmed fighters by defence and security forces for combat operations against armed groups which undermines the DDRR process; calls upon the CAR authorities to ensure that all demobilised combatants, including women and youth, are provided security, as appropriate, throughout the DDRR process and to regularise the status of those combatants who have disarmed outside of the national programme, recognising that repatriations of Lord’s Resistance Army combatants mark the first such repatriation effort from any country;

Calls on the CAR authorities to continue implementing the National Security Policy, the National Strategy on SSR and to implement the National Defence Plan upon completion of its revision, including with the support of the international community, in order to put in place professional, ethnically representative, regionally balanced, taking into account the recruitment of women, and appropriately trained and equipped national defence and security forces, including through the adoption and implementation of appropriate vetting procedures of all defence and security personnel, including human rights vetting, as well as measures to absorb disarmed and demobilised elements of armed groups meeting rigorous eligibility and vetting criteria;

Calls on the CAR authorities to ensure that redeployments of defence and security forces are sustainable, do not pose a risk to the stabilisation of the country, civilians, humanitarians or the political process, and urges the CAR authorities to accelerate efforts to bring all elements of the CAR armed forces under a single, unified chain of command to ensure effective oversight, command and control, including appropriate national vetting and training systems, and to provide appropriate budgetary support and continue to implement a comprehensive national security strategy that is consistent with the peace process, including the APPR;

Expresses serious concerns about repeated allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by some elements of the CAR defence and security forces, welcomes the measures announced by the Government of the CAR to hold accountable those responsible for such violations, including the work of the Special Criminal Court, and calls on international partners to insist on respect for international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international refugee law and accountability as a necessary condition when partnering with the CAR defence and security forces;

Calls on the CAR authorities to ensure that all security actors in country at the invitation of the government de-conflict their training and operational activities;

Calls on the CAR authorities to pursue their efforts, as a matter of priority, to strengthen justice institutions at national and local levels as part of the extension of State authority in order to fight impunity and to contribute to stabilisation and reconciliation, including through the restoration of the administration of the judiciary, criminal justice and penitentiary systems throughout the country, the demilitarisation of the prisons, the establishment of transitional justice mechanisms, based on a victim-centred approach, including the full operationalisation of the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission, which should be able to work in a neutral, impartial, transparent and independent manner, calls for the continued support of international partners to ensure that the Central African criminal justice system and the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission, remain operational and are able to work in an independent, neutral and transparent manner, and for the continued support of international partners to the Special Criminal Court;

Welcomes the improved cooperation between MINUSCA and Central African Armed Forces (FACA) in conducting joint operations, enhancing disarmament, demobilization, repatriation and reintegration operations, and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance and supporting operations in strategic border area to enable border management in the CAR, encourages the CAR authorities to continue their efforts to restore the effective authority of the State over the whole territory of the CAR, including by redeploying and strengthening State administration and providing basic services in the provinces, ensuring the timely payment of salaries to civil servants and defence and security forces, and by swiftly establishing and promulgating the implementing regulations for the law on decentralisation, with the objective of ensuring stable, accountable, inclusive and transparent governance;

Stresses in this context the valuable role of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) in offering strategic advice, providing observations for the Security Council’s consideration, and fostering a more coherent, coordinated and integrated approach to international peacebuilding efforts, welcomes the active role of the Kingdom of Morocco, and encourages continued coordination with the PBC, the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund and other relevant international organisations and institutions in support of CAR’s long term peace building needs, including for support to the peace process, consistent with the APPR;

Economic recovery and development

Encourages the CAR authorities, with the support of the international community, in particular with International Financial Institutions leading international efforts, to improve public financial management and accountability in a manner that allows it to meet the expenses related to the functioning of the State, implement early recovery plans, and revitalise the economy, and that fosters national ownership;

Encourages the CAR authorities to ensure the effective implementation of the CAR’s National Development Plan for 2024-2028 and relevant partners to support the efforts of the CAR authorities to lay the foundation for durable peace in the CAR and sustainable development of all regions of the country, to overcome persisting socio-economic challenges, to boost peace dividends for the population and development projects, including critical investments in infrastructure, which would address logistical challenges in the country and strengthen the CAR authorities’ and MINUSCA’s mobility and ability to provide security and protect civilians, to combat poverty and to help the population of the CAR build sustainable livelihoods, underlines that these efforts could be conducive to ending the cycle of violence;

Human rights, including child protection and sexual violence in conflict

Welcomes the recent adoption of the National Human Rights Policy and reiterates the urgent and imperative need to hold accountable all those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights irrespective of their status or political affiliation, reiterates that some of those acts may amount to crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), to which the CAR is a State party, and recalls that committing acts of incitement to violence, in particular on an ethnic or religious basis, and then engaging in or providing support for acts that undermine the peace, stability or security of the CAR could be a basis for sanctions designations pursuant to resolution 2693 (2023);

Recalls the decision made by the Prosecutor of the ICC on 24 September 2014 to open, following the request of the national authorities, an investigation into alleged crimes committed since 2012 and the ongoing cooperation of the CAR authorities in this regard;

Strongly condemns all attacks on and use for military purposes of schools, medical centres, humanitarian premises, and other civilian infrastructure in violation of international law, as well as the commandeering of assets belonging to the UN or humanitarian actors;

Urges all parties to armed conflict in the CAR, particularly armed groups, to end all violations and abuses committed against children, in violation of applicable international law, including those involving their recruitment and use, rape and sexual violence, killing and maiming, abductions and attacks on schools and hospitals, noting that most cases were attributed to armed groups, further calls upon the CAR authorities to respect their obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict that they ratified on 21 September 2017, and to consider those children who are associated with or have been released or otherwise separated from armed forces and armed groups primarily as victims as per the Paris Principles endorsed by the CAR, welcomes the adoption of the child protection code, underlining the importance of the full implementation of the child protection code, and calls upon the CAR authorities to swiftly investigate alleged violations and abuses in order to fight against impunity of those responsible, to ensure that those responsible for such violations and abuses are excluded from the security sector and that all victims have access to justice as well as to medical and psychosocial support services, calls for the full and immediate implementation of action plans signed by some armed groups and for other armed groups to sign such action plans, reiterates its demands that all parties protect and consider as victims those children who have been released or otherwise separated from armed forces and armed groups, in particular by establishing standard operating procedures for the rapid handover of these children to relevant civilian child protection actors, recalls that the APPR contains several child protection provisions and urges the signatories to it to reinforce their efforts to implement those, and emphasises the need to pay particular attention to the protection, release and reintegration of all children associated with armed forces and armed groups, recalling the 2020 Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict Conclusions on children and armed conflict in the Central African Republic (S/AC.51/2020/3) and urging their full and swift implementation;

Calls upon all parties to armed conflict in the CAR, including armed groups, to end sexual and gender-based violence, further calls upon the CAR authorities to swiftly investigate alleged abuses and prosecute alleged perpetrators in order to fight against impunity of those responsible for such acts, and to take concrete, specific and time-bound steps towards implementing the UN and government of CAR joint communiqué to prevent and respond to sexual violence in conflict and to ensure that those responsible for such crimes are excluded from the security sector and prosecuted, and to facilitate immediate access for all survivors of sexual violence to available services, including mental health and psychosocial services, calls on the CAR authorities and international partners to sustain adequate support to the Mixed Unit for Rapid Intervention and Suppression of Sexual Violence against Women and Children (UMIRR);

Humanitarian access and humanitarian appeal

Demands that all parties, including armed groups, allow and facilitate, in accordance with relevant provisions of international law and consistent with the humanitarian principles, the full, safe, rapid, immediate and unhindered access for the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance to populations in need, in particular to internally displaced persons, returnees and refugees;

Further demands that all parties respect and protect all medical personnel and humanitarian personnel exclusively engaged in medical duties, their means of transport and equipment, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities;

Strongly condemns the continued attacks as well as threats of attacks that are in contravention of international humanitarian law against schools and civilians connected with schools, including children and teachers, and urges all parties to armed conflict to immediately cease such attacks and threats of attacks and to refrain from actions that impede access to education;

Calls on Member States and international and regional organisations to respond swiftly to the humanitarian needs identified in the humanitarian response plan through increased contributions and to ensure that all pledges are honoured in full and in a timely manner;

MINUSCA’s mandate

Expresses its strong support to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General Valentine Rugwabiza;

Decides to extend the mandate of MINUSCA until 15 November 2024;

Decides that MINUSCA shall continue to comprise up to 14,400 military personnel, including 580 Military Observers and Military Staff Officers, and 3,020 police personnel, including 600 Individual Police Officers and 2,420 formed police unit personnel, as well as 108 corrections officers, and recalls its intention to keep this number under continuous review, taking into account progress on the security situation and the objective of transition and eventual drawdown of MINUSCA when conditions are met;

Decides that MINUSCA’s mandate is designed to advance a multiyear strategic vision to create the political, security and institutional conditions conducive to national reconciliation, and durable peace through implementation of the APPR and the elimination of the threat posed by armed groups through a comprehensive approach and proactive and robust posture without prejudice to the basic principles of peacekeeping;

Requests MINUSCA to improve its communication efforts to support the implementation of its mandate and enhance its protection, and raise awareness on its mandate and its role, as well as to underscore the role and responsibilities of the CAR authorities to protect civilians and implement the APPR;

Recalls that MINUSCA’s mandate should be implemented based on a prioritisation of tasks established in paragraphs 36 to 38 of this resolution, and, when relevant, in a sequenced manner, and further requests the Secretary-General to reflect this prioritisation in the deployment of the Mission and to align budgetary resources according to the prioritisation of mandate tasks as set out in this resolution, while ensuring appropriate resources for the implementation of the mandate;

Authorises MINUSCA to take all necessary means to carry out its mandate within its capabilities and areas of deployment;

Priority tasks

Decides that the mandate of MINUSCA shall include the following priority tasks:

Protection of civilians

To protect, in line with S/PRST/2018/18 of 21 September 2018, without prejudice to the primary responsibility of the CAR authorities and the basic principles of peacekeeping, the civilian population under threat of physical violence;

To fully implement its protection of civilians strategy in coordination with CAR authorities, the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), humanitarian and human right organisations, and other relevant partners;

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In support of the CAR authorities, to take active steps to anticipate, deter and effectively respond to serious and credible threats to the civilian population through a comprehensive and integrated approach and, in this regard:

– to ensure effective and dynamic protection of civilians under threat of physical violence through a comprehensive and integrated approach, including by anticipating, deterring, and stopping all threats of violence against the populations, in consultation with local communities, and by supporting and undertaking local mediation efforts to prevent escalation of violence, in line with the basic principles of peacekeeping, and outbreaks of violence between ethnic or religious rival groups;

– to enhance its interaction with civilians, to strengthen its early warning mechanism, to increase its efforts to monitor and document violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights and to strengthen local community engagement and empowerment;

– to maintain a proactive deployment and a mobile, flexible and robust posture, including by conducting active patrolling, in particular in high risk areas;

– to mitigate the risk to civilians before, during and after any military or police operation, including by tracking, preventing, minimising, and addressing civilian harm resulting from the Mission’s operations, presence and activities, including in support of national security forces;

– to work with the CAR authorities to identify and report threats to and attacks against civilians and implement existing prevention and response plans and strengthen civil-military cooperation, including joint planning;

– to support the CAR authorities in the prevention, mitigation and response to the threat posed by explosive ordnance, including removal and destruction of mines and other explosive devices, and through capacity building of FACA, and in coordination with other UN agencies and international partners, including UNMAS;

To provide specific protection and assistance for women and children affected by armed conflict, including through the deployment of protection advisers, child protection advisers, women protection advisers and civilian and uniformed gender advisers and focal points, as well as consultations with women’s organisations, and by adopting a gender-sensitive, survivor-centred approach in this regard, especially to provide the best assistance to survivors of sexual violence, and to support women’s participation in early warning mechanisms;

To take concrete measures to mitigate and avoid the use of schools by armed forces, as appropriate, and deter the use of schools by parties to the conflict, and to facilitate the continuation of education in situations of armed conflict;

To support the implementation of the UN and Government of CAR joint communiqué to prevent and respond to sexual violence in conflict and to take into account these specific concerns throughout activities of all Mission components, in line with the UN Field Missions policy on Preventing and Responding to Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, and to ensure, in cooperation with the SRSG for Sexual Violence in Conflict, that risks of sexual violence in conflict are included in the Mission’s data collection, threat analysis and early warning system;

Support for the extension of State authority, the deployment of security forces, and the preservation of territorial integrity

To continue to support the CAR authorities in safeguarding State institutions and implementing its strategy for the extension of State authority, including through the implementation of relevant provisions of the APPR, for the establishment of interim security and administrative arrangements, including through decentralization, acceptable to the population and under CAR authorities’ oversight, which can create an environment conducive to the extension of state-provided basic social services and long-term socioeconomic opportunities, and through a prioritized division of labour with the UNCT and relevant partners, and address cross-border illicit trade in natural resources;

To promote and support the rapid extension of State authority over the entire territory of the CAR, including by supporting, within available capacities and resources, the deployment of vetted and trained national security forces in priority areas, including through co-location, advising, mentoring and monitoring, in coordination with other partners, as part of the deployment of the territorial administration and other rule of law authorities;

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To provide at the request of the CAR authorities enhanced planning and technical assistance and logistical support for the progressive redeployment of vetted Central African Armed Forces (FACA) or Internal Security Forces (ISF), engaged in joint operations with MINUSCA that include joint planning and tactical cooperation, in order to support the implementation of MINUSCA’s current mandated tasks, including to protect civilians, and to support national authorities in the restoration and maintenance of public safety and the rule of law, in accordance with MINUSCA’s mandate, paragraphs 12 and 13 of this resolution and in strict compliance with the United Nations Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP), contingent on a determination by MINUSCA of the recipients’ compliance with MINUSCA’s Status of Forces Agreement, international human rights law and international humanitarian law, without exacerbating the risks to the stabilisation of the country, civilians, the political process, to UN peacekeepers, or the impartiality of the Mission, to ensure such support be subject to appropriate oversight, and to review this logistical support in one year to ensure its compliance with the benchmarks outlined in the Secretary-General’s letter to the President of the Security Council of 15 May 2018 (S/2018/463);

To support a gradual handover of security of key officials, and static guard duties of national institutions, to the CAR security forces, in coordination with the CAR authorities, based on the risks on the ground and taking into account the electoral context;

Good offices and support to the peace process, including the implementation of the ceasefire and the APPR

To continue its role in support of the peace process, including through political, technical and operational support to the implementation and monitoring of the ceasefire and the APPR, to take active steps to support the CAR authorities in the creation of conditions conducive to the full implementation of the APPR via the roadmap and its subsequent timeline;

To continue to coordinate regional and international support and assistance to the peace process, in consultation and coordination with the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) and regional organisations such as ECCAS and ICGLR, stressing the importance in that regard of the operationalisation of the road map through the implementation of the APPR via the roadmap per the government’s timeline;

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To ensure that the Mission’s political and security strategies promote a coherent peace process, particularly in support of the APPR, that connects local and national peace efforts with the ongoing efforts to monitor the ceasefire, advance the DDRR process, the SSR process, support the fight against impunity, and the restoration of State authority, and promote the participation of women and gender equality;

To assist the CAR authorities’ efforts, at national and local levels, to increase participation of political parties, civil society, women, survivors of sexual violence, youth, faith-based organisations, and where and when possible, IDPs and refugees to the peace process, including the APPR;

To provide good offices and technical expertise in support of efforts to address the root causes of conflict, including those referred to in paragraph 8 of this resolution, in particular to advance national reconciliation and local conflict resolution, working with relevant regional and local bodies and religious leaders, while ensuring the full, equal and meaningful participation of women, including survivors of sexual violence, in line with the CAR national action plan on Women, Peace and Security, including through the support to local dialogue and community engagement;

To support efforts of the CAR authorities to address transitional justice as part of the peace and reconciliation process, and marginalisation and local grievances, including through dialogue with the armed groups, civil society leaders including women and youth representatives, including survivors of sexual violence, and by assisting national, prefectoral and local authorities to foster confidence among communities;

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To provide technical expertise to the CAR authorities in its engagement with neighbouring countries, the ECCAS, the ICGLR and the AU, in consultation and coordination with the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) to resolve issues of common and bilateral interest and to promote their continued and full support for the APPR;

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To make more proactive use of strategic communications to support its protection of civilians’ strategy, in coordination with the CAR authorities, to help the local population better understand the mandate of the Mission, its activities, the APPR and the electoral process, and to build trust with the population of CAR, parties to the conflict, regional and other international actors and partners on the ground;

Facilitate the immediate, full, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance

To improve coordination with all humanitarian actors, including United Nations agencies, and to facilitate, in accordance with relevant provisions of international law and consistent with the humanitarian principles, the creation of a secure environment for the immediate, full, safe and unhindered, civilian-led delivery of humanitarian assistance, and for the voluntary safe, dignified and sustainable return or local integration or resettlement of internally displaced persons or refugees in close coordination with humanitarian actors, while contributing to alleviate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic as requested in resolution 2532 (2020);

Protection of the United Nations

To protect the United Nations personnel, installations, equipment and goods and ensure the security and freedom of movement of United Nations and associated personnel;

Other tasks

Further authorises MINUSCA to pursue the following tasks of its mandate, working in close coordination with the United Nations Country Team, bearing in mind that these tasks as well as those in paragraph 36 above are mutually reinforcing:

Promotion and protection of human rights

To monitor, help investigate, report annually and timely to the Security Council, and follow up on violations of international humanitarian law and on violations and abuses of human rights committed throughout the CAR;

To monitor, help investigate and ensure reporting on violations and abuses committed against children and women, including rape and other forms of sexual violence in armed conflict, in connection with the UMIRR;

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To assist the CAR authorities in their efforts to protect and promote human rights and prevent violations and abuses and to strengthen the capacity of civil society organisations;

Republican Dialogue and 2024/2025 elections

To assist the CAR authorities in the follow-up of the recommendations of the 2022 Republican Dialogue and the preparation and delivery of free, fair and peaceful local elections of 2024 and 2025, in a transparent, credible, peaceful and timely manner, as outlined in the preamble and in paragraph 8 of this resolution, by providing good offices, including to encourage dialogue among all political stakeholders, with the full, equal, meaningful participation of women, youth, returnees, internally displaced persons and refugees, to mitigate tensions throughout the electoral period, by also providing security, operational, logistical and, as appropriate, technical support, in particular to facilitate access to remote areas, and by coordinating with the UN Development Programme and other international partners regarding international electoral assistance;

Security Sector Reform (SSR)

To provide strategic and technical advice to the CAR authorities to implement the National Strategy on SSR and the National Defence Plan, in close coordination with EUTM-RCA, EUAM-RCA, and CAR’s other international partners, including France, the Russian Federation, the United States, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Rwanda, with the aim of ensuring coherence of the SSR process, including through a clear delineation of responsibilities between the FACA, the ISF and other uniformed entities, as well as the democratic control of both defence and internal security forces;

To continue to support the CAR authorities in developing an approach to the vetting of defence and security elements which prioritises human rights vetting, in particular to fight impunity for violations of international and domestic law and in the context of any integration of demobilised armed groups elements into security sector institutions;

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To take a leading role in supporting the CAR authorities in enhancing the capacities of the ISF, particularly command and control structures and oversight mechanisms and to coordinate the provision of technical assistance and training between the international partners in the CAR, in particular with EUTM-RCA and EUAM-RCA, in order to ensure a clear distribution of tasks in the field of SSR;

To continue to support the CAR authorities in the training of police and gendarmerie and in the selection, recruitment, and vetting of police and gendarmerie elements, with the support of donors and the UNCT, taking into account the need to recruit women at all levels, and in full compliance with the United Nations HRDDP;

Disarmament, Demobilisation, Reintegration (DDR) and Repatriation (DDRR)

To support the CAR authorities in implementing an inclusive, gender-sensitive and progressive programme for the DDR and, in case of foreign elements, repatriation, of members of armed groups, and, as appropriate, and in consultation and coordination with international partners, support possible, temporary, voluntary cantonment sites in support of community-based socioeconomic reintegration, including through supporting the government to provide security and appropriate protection to demobilised ex-combatants, based on the Principles of DDRR and Integration into the Uniformed Corps, signed at the Bangui Forum in May 2015 and guided by the revitalised 2019 UN Integrated DDRR Standards, while paying specific attention to the needs of children associated with armed forces and groups and women combatants, the need to ensure the separation of children from these forces and groups, and the need to prevent re-recruitment, and including gender-sensitive programmes;

To support the CAR authorities and relevant civil society organisations in developing and implementing CVR programmes, including gender-sensitive programmes, for members of armed groups including those not eligible for participation in the national DDRR programme, in cooperation with development partners and together with communities of return in line with the priorities highlighted in the National Development Plan for 2024–2028;

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To provide technical assistance to the CAR authorities in implementing a national plan for the integration of eligible demobilised members of armed groups into the security and defence forces, in line with the broader SSR process, the need to put in place professional, ethnically representative and regionally balanced national security and defence, and to provide technical advice to the CAR authorities in accelerating the implementation of the interim security arrangements provided for in the APPR, following vetting, disarmament, demobilisation and training;

To coordinate the support provided by multilateral and bilateral partners, including the World Bank, the Africa, Development Bank and the Peacebuilding Commission, to the efforts of the CAR authorities on DDRR programs to reintegrate eligible and vetted former members of the armed groups into peaceful civilian life and to help ensure that these efforts will lead to sustainable socioeconomic reintegration;

Support for national and international justice, the fight against impunity, and the rule of law

To help reinforce the independence of the judiciary, build the capacities, and enhance the effectiveness of the national judicial system as well as the effectiveness and the accountability of the penitentiary system including through the provision of technical assistance to the CAR authorities to identify, investigate and prosecute those responsible for crimes involving violations of international humanitarian law and of violations and abuses of human rights committed throughout the CAR;

To help build the capacities of the national human rights institution coordinating with the Independent Expert on human rights in the CAR as appropriate;

Urgent temporary measures:

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To urgently and actively adopt, within the limits of its capacities and areas of deployment, at the formal request of the CAR authorities and in areas where national security forces are not present or operational, urgent temporary measures on an exceptional basis, without creating a precedent and without prejudice to the agreed principles of peacekeeping operations, which are limited in scope, time-bound and consistent with the objectives set out in paragraphs 36 and 37 (e), to arrest and detain in order to maintain basic law and order and fight impunity and to pay particular attention in this regard to those engaging in or providing support for acts that undermine the peace, stability or security of the CAR, including those violating the ceasefire or the APPR;

Special Criminal Court (SCC):

To provide technical assistance, in partnership with other international partners and the UNCT, and capacity building for the CAR authorities, to facilitate the operationalisation and the functioning of the SCC, in particular in the areas of investigations, arrests, detention, criminal and forensic analysis, evidence collection and storage, recruitment and selection of personnel, court management, prosecution strategy and case development and the establishment of a legal aid system, as appropriate, as well as to provide security for magistrates, including at the premises and proceedings of the SCC, and take measures for the protection of victims and witnesses, in line with the CAR’s international humanitarian law and international human rights obligations;

To assist in the coordination and mobilisation of increased bilateral and multilateral support to the functioning of the SCC;

Rule of law:

To provide support and to coordinate international assistance to build the capacities and enhance the effectiveness of the criminal justice system, within the framework of the United Nations global focal point on rule of law, as well as the effectiveness and the accountability of police and penitentiary system with the support of the UNCT;

vii

Without prejudice to the primary responsibility of the CAR authorities, to support the restoration and maintenance of public safety and the rule of law, including through apprehending and handing over to the CAR authorities, consistent with international law, those in the country responsible for crimes involving serious human rights violations and abuses and serious violations of international humanitarian law, including those involving sexual violence in conflict, so that they can be brought to justice, and through cooperation with states of the region as well as the ICC in cases of crimes falling within its jurisdiction following the decision made by the Prosecutor of the ICC on 24 September 2014 to open, following the request of national authorities, an investigation into alleged crimes committed since 2012;

Additional tasks

Further authorises MINUSCA to carry out the following additional tasks:

To assist the Committee established pursuant to paragraph 57 of resolution 2127 (2013) and the Panel of Experts established by the same resolution;

To monitor the implementation of the measures renewed and modified by paragraph 1 of resolution 2693 (2023), in cooperation with the Panel of Experts established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013), including by inspecting, as it deems necessary and when appropriate without notice, all arms and related materiel regardless of location, and advise the CAR authorities on efforts to keep armed groups from exploiting natural resources;

To support the Panel of Experts established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013) in collecting information about acts of incitement to violence, in particular on an ethnic or religious basis, that undermine the peace, stability or security of the CAR in accordance with paragraph 32 (g) of resolution 2399 (2018) extended by paragraph 6 of resolution 2693 (2023);

To ensure, with all relevant United Nations bodies, unhindered access and safety for the Panel of Experts established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013), in particular to persons, documents and sites within their control in order for the Panel to execute its mandate;

To provide transport for relevant CAR authorities as appropriate and on a case by case basis and when the situation allows, as a means to promote and support the extension of the State authority over the entire territory;

Mission effectiveness

Requests the Secretary-General to deploy and allocate personnel and expertise within MINUSCA to reflect the priorities identified by paragraph 36 to paragraph 38 of this resolution, and to continuously adjust this deployment according to the progresses made in the implementation of this mandate;

Reiterates its concern at the continuing lack of key capabilities for MINUSCA and the need to fill gaps, as well as the importance of current and future troop and police contributing countries (T/PCCs) providing troops and police with adequate capabilities, equipment and predeployment training, including with regards to engineering capabilities and explosive ordnance threat mitigation, in order to enhance the mobility capacity of MINUSCA and its ability to operate effectively in an increasingly complex security environment;

Recognises that the effective implementation of peacekeeping mandates is the responsibility of all stakeholders and is contingent upon several critical factors, including well-defined, realistic, and achievable mandates, political will, leadership, strategic communications, performance and accountability at all levels, integration across components, adequate resources, policy, planning, and operational guidelines, and training and equipment, urges Member States to provide troops and police that have adequate capabilities and mindset, including regarding language skills, predeployment and, where appropriate, in situ training, and equipment, including enablers, specific to the operating environment, requests troop and police contributing countries to implement relevant provisions of resolution 2538 (2020) notes the potential adverse effects on mandate implementation of national caveats which have not been declared and accepted by the Secretary-General prior to deployment, highlights that lack of effective command and control, refusal to obey orders, failure to respond to attacks on civilians, declining to participate in or undertake patrols may adversely affect the shared responsibility for effective mandate implementation, and calls on Members State to declare all national caveats, prior to the contingent deployment, provide troops and police with the minimum of declared caveats, and to fully and effectively implement the provisions of the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) signed with the United Nations;

Requests the Secretary-General, Member States, and the CAR authorities to continue to take all appropriate measures to ensure the safety, security and freedom of movement of MINUSCA’s personnel with unhindered and immediate access throughout the CAR, in line with resolution 2518 (2020), including by authorising night flights, notes with concern the grave risks violations of the Status of Force Agreement can present to the safety and security of United Nations personnel serving in peacekeeping operations, and requests the Secretary-General to implement the provisions of resolution 2589 (2021) for establishing accountability for crimes against peacekeepers;

Requests the Secretary-General to fully implement the capacities and existing obligations mentioned in paragraph 43 of resolution 2659 (2022) in the planning and conduct of MINUSCA’s operations, including improving MINUSCA’s intelligence and analysis capacities and strengthening the implementation of a mission-wide early warning and response strategy and prioritizing enhanced mission mobility, and also to improve strategic communications and Mission air and ground transportation and logistics capacity and management;

Encourages continued efforts to improve communication and coordination between CAR authorities and MINUSCA, including on the implementation of the Status of Forces Agreement and security coordination, and strengthen established coordination mechanisms;

Requests MINUSCA to continue implementing Youth, Peace and Security resolutions 2250 (2015), 2419 (2018) and 2535 (2020);

Urges troop- and police-contributing countries to continue taking appropriate action to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse, including vetting of all personnel, predeployment and in-mission awareness training, to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their personnel, including through timely investigations of all allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by troop- and police-contributing countries to hold perpetrators accountable, to repatriate units when there is credible evidence of widespread or systemic sexual exploitation and abuse by those units, and to report to the United Nations fully and promptly on actions undertaken, reiterates the need for MINUSCA to continue implementing the United Nations zero-tolerance policy on serious misconduct, sexual exploitation and abuse, and sexual harassment, and all actions under resolution 2272 (2016), and to report to the Security Council if such cases of misconduct occur;

Requests MINUSCA to consider the environmental impacts of its operations when fulfilling its mandated tasks and, in this context, to manage them as appropriate and in accordance with applicable and relevant General Assembly resolutions and United Nations rules and regulations;

Notes the United Nations Department of Operational Support’s Environment Strategy (phase II), which emphasises good stewardship of resources and a positive legacy of the mission, and identifies the goal of expanded renewable energy use in missions to enhance safety and security, save costs, offer efficiencies and benefit the mission;

Encourages the Secretary-General to implement and keep under continuous update the integrated strategic framework setting the United Nations’ overall vision, joint priorities and internal division of labour to sustain peace in CAR, including enhanced coordination with donors, requests the Secretary-General to ensure an efficient division of tasks and complementarity of efforts between MINUSCA and the entities comprising the UNCT based on their mandates and comparative advantages as well as to continuously adjust their deployment according to the progress made in the implementation of MINUSCA’s mandate, while stressing the importance of adequate resources and capacity for the UNCT, underscores the critical nature of enhanced UNCT presence and activity in CAR to facilitate integration across the UN system and longer term peacebuilding and sustainable development, requests the framework to also include early, inclusive and integrated planning on transitions in line with resolution 2594 (2021) and calls on Member States and relevant organisations to consider providing the necessary voluntary funding to this end;

Child protection

Requests MINUSCA to take fully into account child protection as a cross-cutting issue throughout its mandate and to assist the CAR authorities in ensuring that the protection of children’s rights is taken into account, inter alia, in the DDRR and SSR processes, including through quality education provided in a safe environment in conflict areas, in order to end and prevent violations and abuses against children and continue to ensure the effectiveness of the monitoring and reporting mechanism on the children and armed conflict in the CAR and of the Child Protection Section of the MINUSCA;

Gender and Women Peace and Security

Requests MINUSCA to continue strengthening its sexual and gender-based violence prevention and response activities in line with resolution 2467 (2019), including by assisting the parties with activities consistent with this resolution, and to take fully into account gender mainstreaming as a cross-cutting issue throughout its mandate, prioritizing the full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), resolution 2538 (2020) and all resolutions addressing Women, Peace, and Security, and to assist the CAR authorities in ensuring the full, equal and meaningful participation, involvement and representation of women, including survivors of sexual violence, in all spheres and at all levels, including in the political and reconciliation process and the mechanisms established for the implementation of the APPR, stabilisation activities, transitional justice, the work of the SCC and of the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission, SSR and DDRR processes, the preparation and holding of the local elections through, inter alia, the provision of gender advisers, and requests troop- and police-contributing countries to implement relevant provisions of resolution and all other relevant resolutions on reducing barriers to and increasing women’s participation at all levels and in all positions in peacekeeping, including by ensuring safe, enabling and gender-sensitive working environments for women in peacekeeping operations;

Weapon and ammunition management

Requests MINUSCA to actively seize, record, dispose of, and destroy, as appropriate, weapons and ammunitions of disarmed combatants and armed groups who refuse or fail to lay down their arms and present an imminent threat to civilians or the stability of the State, in keeping with its efforts to seize and collect arms and any related material the supply, sale or transfer of which violate the measures imposed by paragraph 2 of resolution 2693 (2023);

Underlines that the arms embargo measures established by resolution 2127 (2013) and notification requirements set out in paragraph 1 of resolution 2648 (2022) no longer apply to sale or transfer of arms and related materiel and the provision of assistance, advice and training to the CAR security forces, as set out in paragraph 1 of resolution 2693 (2023);

Requests MINUSCA to provide support to the CAR authorities in their efforts to achieve progress on the key benchmarks, established in the statement of its President of 9 April 2019 (S/PRST/2019/3) (“the key benchmarks”), and calls on other regional and international partners to provide coordinated support to the CAR authorities in these efforts, in line with resolutions 2693 (2023);

MINUSCA Freedom of movement

Urges all parties in the CAR to cooperate fully with the deployment and activities of MINUSCA, in particular by ensuring its safety, security and freedom of movement with unhindered and immediate access throughout the territory of the CAR, including by air and at night, as per MINUSCA’s Status of Forces Agreement, to enable MINUSCA to carry out fully its mandate in a complex environment;

Calls upon Member States, especially those in the region, to ensure the free, unhindered and expeditious movement to and from the CAR of all personnel, as well as equipment, provisions, supplies and other goods, including vehicles and spare parts, which are for the exclusive and official use of MINUSCA;

Reports by the Secretary-General

Requests the Secretary-General to provide integrated, evidence-based and data-driven analysis, strategic assessments and frank advice to the Security Council, using the data collected and analysed through the Comprehensive Planning and Performance Assessment System (CPAS) and other strategic planning and performance measurement tools to describe the mission’s impact, to facilitate as necessary a re-evaluation of the mission composition and mandate based on realities on the ground, to ensure effectiveness of the mission, and further, requests the Secretary-General to review and report on a regular basis the conditions required for the transition, drawdown and withdrawal of MINUSCA, in a manner which does not prejudice overall efforts to support long term objectives for peace and stability;

(a) Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council on 15 February 2024, 15 June 2024 and 13 October 2024 on the progress in implementing MINUSCA’s mandate, as well as on the situation in the CAR, including on all elements set out in paragraph 58 (a) of resolution 2659 (2022);

Further requests the Secretary-General to provide the Council with an evaluation, no later than May 2024, of the logistical support provided to CAR defence and security forces in line with paragraph 36 (b) of this resolution, including by providing appropriate financial information;

Requests the Secretary-General, to conduct and provide the Security Council no later than 15 August 2024, with an independent strategic review of MINUSCA in accordance with best practices, stresses that the Review must be conducted based on broad consultations with the government of CAR and other relevant partners, including UN agencies, member States, regional organisations, civil society and independent experts, requests that such review assess the challenges to peace and security in the CAR, and provide detailed recommendations regarding the possible reconfiguration of MINUSCA’s mandate, on mission’s effectiveness, adequation of resources, and options for gradually adapting its civilian, police, and military components, as appropriate, as well as recommendations for a possible transition plan and eventual drawdown of MINUSCA when conditions are met;

Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.