Central African Republic: Vote on MINUSCA’s Mandate Renewal*
Tomorrow morning (14 November), the Security Council is expected to vote on a draft resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) for another year, until 15 November 2025.
France, the penholder on the Central African Republic (CAR), circulated an initial draft to Council members on 29 October and convened two rounds of negotiations, on 31 October and 6 November. A revised text was then placed under silence procedure until Friday afternoon (8 November), but the “A3 plus” grouping (Algeria, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Guyana) broke silence over the issue of procurement of goods by MINUSCA, after which other Council members followed with additional comments. The penholder then made further revisions to the text and placed it under a second silence procedure until yesterday morning (12 November). The text passed silence and was subsequently put in blue.
Background
In resolution 2709 of 15 November 2023, which most recently renewed MINUSCA’s mandate, the Security Council requested the Secretary-General to conduct an independent strategic review of the mission. The purpose of the review was to provide detailed recommendations regarding the reconfiguration of MINUSCA’s mandate, including a possible transition plan for the mission’s drawdown “when conditions are met”. However, the strategic review, circulated to Council members on 14 August, said that “there is currently no desire or request from the national authorities for the drawdown of MINUSCA”. Therefore, the review recommended that the mission and the host country initiate discussions on a potential transition plan in 2026, following the presidential and legislative elections expected to take place in 2025 and 2026
The outcome of the strategic review was expected to inform the negotiations on MINUSCA’s mandate renewal this year, but it appears that the CAR did not want the Council to consider the recommendations contained in the review. During the Council’s latest meeting on MINUSCA, held on 23 October, the CAR representative expressed regret that his country had not received a copy of the strategic review from the UN Secretariat. Although the review was conducted in consultation with the CAR authorities, the Secretariat apparently believed that its findings were intended only for circulation to Security Council members. This led to a discussion on working methods, with one Council member apparently indicating during the negotiations an intention to bring the matter to the Security Council’s Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions (IWG).
Additionally, it appears that Russia characterised the strategic review as highly political. The review included detailed information on the role of “other security personnel”—a term that the UN uses to refer to Africa Corps (formerly known as the Wagner Group), a Russian private security company now directly overseen by the Russian Ministry of Defence.
The review has now been published, but it apparently took over two months to complete the translation, with versions in the UN’s working languages only being made available a few days before the start of the mandate renewal negotiations. The Secretariat attributed the delay to the current liquidity crisis facing the UN.
Negotiations on the Draft Resolution
This year’s mandate renewal negotiations were relatively smooth, and the Council may be able to adopt a resolution on MINUSCA unanimously for the first time since 2020. Previous negotiations were more contentious, with last year’s negotiations proving difficult because of disagreements among Council members on several issues, including MINUSCA’s human rights reporting. (For more information, see our 14 November 2023 What’s in Blue story.) The CAR’s improved bilateral relationship with the penholder appears to have contributed to a more constructive negotiation process this year. The Francophonie Summit in Paris on 4 and 5 October apparently provided an opportunity for high-level engagement between the two countries. Although in previous years CAR Minister for Foreign Affairs, Francophonie, and Central Africans Abroad Sylvie Valérie Baïpo Temon typically participated in the Council’s MINUSCA briefing ahead of the mandate renewal and clearly conveyed her country’s strong position on a range of issues, she did not do so this year. Nor did she send a letter to the Security Council detailing her country’s position prior to this year’s negotiations.
Nevertheless, it seems that the CAR worked closely with Council members, particularly the “A3 plus”, to advance its position during the negotiations. Most notably, during the discussion on supporting its economic recovery and development, the CAR pushed for language in the draft resolution that would prioritise local suppliers in the procurement of goods by MINUSCA. Given its current economic challenges, the CAR is keen to leverage MINUSCA’s presence to support local businesses and stimulate economic growth.
However, this suggestion raised concerns among several Council members, who felt that it might infringe on the UN’s procurement rules and regulations. They also apparently believed that the issue falls under the purview of the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee and were reluctant to set a precedent for other UN peace operations. Eventually, Council members were able to agree on compromise language which encourages the Secretary-General to continue his efforts in line with paragraphs 60, 64, and 65 of General Assembly resolution 76/274 of 7 July 2022, in accordance with the Financial Rules and Regulations of the UN. These paragraphs highlight the importance of the UN adhering to the principles of fairness, integrity, transparency, and effective international competition in its procurement processes. At the same time, they emphasise the need to explore innovative ways to promote procurement from developing countries, encouraging efforts to support local vendors and prioritising the use of local materials in the implementation of construction projects for peacekeeping operations, in compliance with the UN Procurement Manual.
The draft resolution in blue renews MINUSCA’s mandate within its existing troop ceiling of 14,400 military personnel and 3,020 police personnel. It also retains the mission’s priority tasks, as most recently outlined in resolution 2709. The CAR authorities have formally requested UN assistance for the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for 2025 and 2026. As a result, the draft text in blue updates MINUSCA’s electoral assistance task to also support the organisation of local, presidential, and legislative elections in 2025 and 2026, while also urging the CAR government to ensure that the elections are inclusive, free, and fair.
Although the draft resolution in blue takes note of the strategic review, it seems that its recommendations were not considered by Council members during the negotiations. Although China had emphasised in the past the need to optimise and streamline MINUSCA’s mandate and rationalise its staffing levels and size, it did not appear to push this point during the negotiations. Nevertheless, it seems that China proposed language calling on MINUSCA to adopt a transition mindset, encouraging the mission to begin discussions with the CAR authorities on a potential transition plan before 2026. This language was reflected some ideas from the strategic review. Through this proposal, China apparently wanted to ensure that the mission would be prepared for drawdown if conditions permit, or a request is made. However, this proposed language was not accepted during the negotiations because the CAR apparently did not want the Council to consider the recommendations contained in the review.
It seems that there was also some discussion around MINUSCA’s environmental footprint. Particularly, Slovenia apparently pushed for strengthening the text in line with agreed language from the resolution 2729 of 29 April, which most recently renewed the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). However, Russia opposed these additions, seeking instead to only retain language from resolution 2709, which calls on MINUSCA to consider the environmental impacts of its operations when fulfilling its mandated tasks. Eventually, Council members agreed on the proposed language, with some adjustments. The draft resolution in blue references the document titled “The Way Forward: Environment Strategy for Peace Operations 2023-2030” developed by the Department of Operational Support (DOS), noting that it “emphasizes 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”.
Council members supportive of the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda successfully added language emphasising the need to ensure women’s safe participation to existing references in the text calling for their full, equal, and meaningful participation in all spheres and at all levels. Additionally, it seems that while some members had opposed references to civil society participation in relation to the upcoming elections, the host country apparently supported such references, which led to their retention in the draft resolution in blue.
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**Post-script: On 14 November, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2759, extending the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) for another year, until 15 November 2025. This was the first unanimous adoption of a resolution extending MINUSCA’s mandate in four years.
Nevertheless, in its explanation of vote, Russia opposed references to the International Criminal Court in the resolution. It also called for Council members not to “mix up the key provisions of the mandate…with subjects that are not directly under the remit of the Security Council”, an apparent reference to a UN Secretariat document mentioned in the resolution. (This document was the UN Department of Operational Support’s “Way Forward: Environment Strategy for Peace Operations 2023–2030”.)
