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UN peacekeepers help provide security as Central African Republic holds elections

 

 

 

30 December 2015 – United Nations peacekeepers were out in force at polling stations t
30 December 2015 – United Nations peacekeepers were out in force at polling stations throughout the Central African Republic (CAR) today as the country voted in presidential and legislative elections, a major step on the path to stability after two years of conflict between Muslims and Christians.
Military and police units from the 11,000-strong UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in CAR (MINUSCA) joined soldiers from the French Sangaris force and local security teams in “a strategy of pre-emption, prevention and reaction to anticipate, prevent and react against all imponderables and all risks,” the Mission reported in its latest bulletin.
The UN has played a major role in seeking to restore peace after fighting between the mainly Muslim Séléka and mainly Christian anti-Balaka groups erupted in early 2013, in which thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands more forced from their homes.
Yesterday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took to CAR’s radio waves to appeal for a massive turn-out in the polls. “The upcoming elections are a historical moment for your country,” he said in French on today’s first round of the polls.
hroughout the Central African Republic (CAR) today as the country voted in presidential and legislative elections, a major step on the path to stability after two years of conflict between Muslims and Christians.
Military and police units from the 11,000-strong UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in CAR (MINUSCA) joined soldiers from the French Sangaris force and local security teams in “a strategy of pre-emption, prevention and reaction to anticipate, prevent and react against all imponderables and all risks,” the Mission reported in its latest bulletin.
The UN has played a major role in seeking to restore peace after fighting between the mainly Muslim Séléka and mainly Christian anti-Balaka groups erupted in early 2013, in which thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands more forced from their homes.
Yesterday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took to CAR’s radio waves to appeal for a massive turn-out in the polls. “The upcoming elections are a historical moment for your country,” he said in French on today’s first round of the polls.