UNSC Briefing on UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) and Lords Resistance Army (LRA)

[Wednesday, 15 December 2021]

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INDIA STATEMENT

By

Ambassador R. Ravindra

Deputy Permanent Representative

Thank you, Mr. President. I thank SRSG François Louncény Fall for his briefing on developments in the Central Africa region and the activities of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA). I will focus my intervention broadly on three points, i.e, political, security and humanitarian situation in the region.

2. Mr. President, though some countries in the region such as Central African Republic and Chad are currently facing uncertain political and security situation, overall the region has remained politically stable and peaceful. This positive trend shows that electoral democracy is gradually and firmly taking its roots in the region. This is also evident from successful conduct of presidential elections in Sao Tome & Principe. We congratulate the people of Sao Tome & Prince for consolidating the gains of the past years by holding peaceful elections.

3. The progress made in the recent months in the Central African Republic also deserves collective support of the international community. We hope that the unilateral ceasefire announced in October will further strengthen peace and stability and all parties will work together to advance the implementation of the 2019 Political Agreement. We also welcome the commitment of Chad and Central African Republic to address the border tensions through dialogue. In Chad, there has been progress towards transitional milestones, through the national dialogue process, setting up of National Transitional Council and towards holding of elections. We welcome these positive developments and encourage MINUSCA, UNOCA and ECCAS to continue assisting the State authorities.

4. Despite these positive trends, there exist challenges in the region.  Inclusivity in governance and decision making is the cornerstone of democracy, with dialogue and reconciliation as key ingredients. Countries in the region will need to persevere, in finding lasting solutions to some of the persisting political challenges.

5.  The complex intersection of challenges in the Central Africa region requires a multifaceted response including an inclusive political process with electoral reforms and strengthening of national capacities and local administrations to promote socio-economic development. The international community must support the countries in the region in their aspirations for economic growth.

6.       On the security front, the continuing spread of terrorism in Central Africa including in the Lake Chad basin remains a matter of serious concern. The expansion of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and the continued killings perpetrated by Boko Harm are worrying signs and deserve our unequivocal condemnation. We commend the regional efforts contributing to tackle these issues like the Multi-National Joint Task Force and the quadripartite agreement between Chad, Libya, Niger and Sudan to secure common border and resolve cross border issues.

Mr. President,

7. We welcome the convening of the Third Regional Governors Forum of the Lake Chad Basin and the launch of eight Territorial Action Plans of the “Regional Strategy for the Stabilization, Recovery and Resilience of the Boko Haram-affected Areas”. We welcome the steps endorsed in the communique. The local ownership and leadership of the Governors will be key to implementation of these territorial plans. The international community must continue to support these efforts.   

Mr. President

8. Maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea continues to be a matter of concern. The SG’s report has indicated eight incidents in the Gulf of Guinea with five of them in the ECCAS maritime space. There is an urgent need to increase surveillance for maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea through increased international collaboration to ensure that this problem is dealt with decisively.

9. It is evident that the COVID-19 pandemic has halted some of the progress in the region, with resources being shifted to meet urgent pandemic response needs.   We reiterate our call for equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, including to the countries in Central Africa region. The international community must collectively work towards supporting initiatives that ensure speedy and equitable distribution of vaccines, to the most-disadvantaged populations. India has also announced recently that it stands ready to support affected countries in Africa to deal with the Omicron variant.

Mr. President,

10. India has cordial and friendly bilateral relations with countries in Central Africa. In recent years, India has further expanded its diplomatic footprint in the region by opening Indian Resident Mission in São Tomé and Príncipe in 2021 in addition to Missions in Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and Republic of Congo where we opened Missions in the previous years. We will be opening our Mission in Chad soon. India has also extended development cooperation assistance by way of lending ‘soft loans’ worth US$ 2 billion for projects in agriculture, transport, power and water supply to countries in the region. This year, India provided medicines to fight COVID-19 pandemic to several countries in the region. India has also extended relief under Debt Service Suspension Initiative [DSSI] initiative of G-20 to Central African countries. We will continue to engage closely with Central Africa and be steadfast in our support for its peace and prosperity.

Thank you. 

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