Central Africa’s Important Governance Milestones Unfolding against Troubling Backdrop, Top Political, Peacebuilding Official Tells Security Council

While Central African countries have achieved several important governance milestones, those strides have unfolded against a "troubling backdrop" marked by relentless terrorist attacks, mass population displacement and increasing restrictions on civil and political rights, a senior political and peacebuilding official warned the Security Council today.

"Two fulcrums of instability stand out in Central Africa - eastern Chad and the Lake Chad region," said Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations.

Briefing the 15-member Council on the Secretary-General's the latest semi-annual report (document S/2026/445) on the situation in the region and the activities of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), which highlights developments since the December 2025 briefing, she said the conflict in neighbouring Sudan is now in its fourth year.

More than 900,000 Sudanese refugees and 300,000 Chadian returnees have entered Chad since April 2023, putting a significant strain on national resources. "It has also undermined social cohesion in Chad's eastern provinces, exacerbating an already severe humanitarian crisis," she said.

Meanwhile, she said, civilians in the Lake Chad Basin region - namely, parts of Chad and Cameroon - continue to suffer attacks and human rights abuses by various Boko Haram-affiliated and splinter groups. Ongoing crises in the north-west and south-west regions of Cameroon continue to impact civilians, who are bearing the brunt of the violence.

"The Multinational Joint Task Force remains an essential cross-regional mechanism to combat the violent extremist threat," she said, referring to the joint military coalition comprising troops from Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria, alongside Benin. However, a security response alone "will not suffice" in addressing the root causes of the crisis. International partners and multilateral development banks must help fund the Lake Chad Basin Commission's cross-border programmes.

She went on to note a "worrying trend" characterized by increasing restrictions on civil and political rights in several parts of Central Africa. "If not reversed, these could contribute to a narrowing civic space, affecting long-term stability and leading to conflict," she warned. Citing instances of political retribution in Chad and social media restrictions in Gabon, among others, she went on to voice serious concern about other regional developments, such as the risk posed to the subregion by the recent Ebola outbreak eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Calls to Protect Human, Civil, Political Rights, Combat Climate Crisis

Council members also took the floor to share their perspectives.

"We regret that instability is still part of the lived experience of millions of people in the Central African region," said Latvia's delegate. While voicing support for security-centred efforts to counter those threats, she stressed that they must be fully in line with international law. She also expressed concern over threats to democratic governance and civil society, emphasizing: "Respect for fundamental rights and freedoms, the safeguarding of civic space and genuine political dialogue are essential for peaceful, inclusive and sustainable development."

"The preventive role played by UNOCA remains essential in a region in which security, governance and development challenges are increasingly interlinked," said Panama's representative, echoing concern over persistent security challenges and shrinking civic space. "The war in Sudan continues to have destabilizing effects for the whole of Central Africa," he added, while also drawing attention to the increasingly intertwined impacts of climate change, food insecurity and displacement.

Also praising UNOCA's work was the representative of France, who stressed that "open and inclusive political space" and respect for human rights are essential for stability. "The fight against disinformation and the fight against hate speech are both crucial to guarantee proper high-quality civic debate," he added, also praising regional efforts to counter Boko Haram, Islamic State - West Africa Province and other dangerous terrorist factions.

The representatives of Bahrain and Denmark also outlined their countries' concerns and priorities in Central Africa, which included terrorism, mass displacement and the subregion's worsening humanitarian crisis. The latter joined several other speakers in citing the worsening impacts of climate change, which are being acutely felt in the region. "Above-average temperatures, erratic rainfall and pressure on water and pasture intensify existing challenges and heighten instability and communal violence," she said, welcoming the launch of the Regional Climate, Peace and Security Strategy for Central Africa, which provides a much-needed operational framework for integrating climate-related risks into conflict prevention, early warning and peacebuilding efforts.

The representative of Colombia, Council President for June, and Greece's speaker also described climate shocks and worsening food insecurity as some of the main challenges facing Central Africa, with the latter warning: "Unfortunately, women and girls are paying the heaviest price." She also sounded alarm over the risks posed to the wider sub-region by a recent outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Humanitarian, Counter-Terrorism Support is Vital, Delegates Pledge More

To that point, the representative of the United Kingdom voiced deep concern that ongoing conflict in that country's eastern region "makes the Ebola response harder". He urged the international community to work together to curb the outbreak, noting that the United Kingdom has allocated $26 million to support the World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN and partners' efforts to strengthen disease surveillance, support frontline health workers, improve infection prevention and help affected communities access life-saving care. "The United Kingdom remains committed to supporting the region, including through our increased regional humanitarian assistance of $55 million," he said.

Also stressing the importance of international cooperation was the representative of the United States, who declared: "The [United States] values our partnerships with Member States across central Africa, which support everything from mutual prosperity to greater peace and stability." Recalling that the United States and Nigeria recently completed a "meticulously planned" joint military mission to eliminate Abu Bilal Al-Minuki, the global ISIL "second-in-command" and one of the most active terrorists in the world, he also sounded alarm over the widening impacts of Sudan's conflict and called for an immediate humanitarian truce without preconditions.

Respect National, Regional Leadership in Counter-Terrorism, Development

Several speakers struck a different tone, highlighting the political momentum achieved by many Central African countries. While acknowledging serious challenges, they underlined the need to respect regional and national leadership while providing international support where requested.

China's delegate, for one, said safeguarding the inclusive political strides made by various Central African nations is crucial. In recent months, the Republic of Congo successfully held Presidential elections, Gabon completed its political transition, Chad continued to advance its post-transition governance-building and São Tomé and Príncipe is preparing for upcoming elections. "China supports countries of [the region] in continuing to heed the voices of their people," he said, as well as in combating terrorism and restoring security and stability.

"The countries and the peoples of Central Africa continue showing resilience and commitment to peace and stability," said the representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also speaking for Liberia and Somalia. He praised the work of the Multinational Joint Task Force, despite the "difficult regional context", and stressed that security responses must be paired with stabilization, recovery, development and efforts to prevent the recruitment of vulnerable people.

He emphasized that lasting peace will require economic growth, education and essential services, and called for greater international support in those areas, including sustained cooperation among the United Nations, African Union, Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Lake Chad Basin Commission and other partners. "Dialogue, cooperation, and the responses provided by the Africans themselves, supported by international partners, are the effective pathway towards peace, security, and sustainable development," he concluded.

Echoing many of those points, the representative of Pakistan also praised the Multinational Task Force and called for stronger African-led counter-terrorism cooperation with support from global partners. Recent political progress in the region must also be maintained, he said, adding: "Predictable, sustainable, and adequate financing for regional initiatives remains essential."

The representative of the Russian Federation said that, despite "significant and sustained progress", countries of Central Africa continue to be undermined by terrorist groups. Pledging to continue sharing her country's counter-terrorism expertise with its African partners, she joined others in emphasizing the need to address one of the subregion's most critical underlying drivers - African countries' mounting external debt. In that regard, she said, the latest aggression against Iran by the United States and Israel has once again laid bare the "outdated" and "neocolonial" economic relationship between African natural resource-exporting countries and international markets.