The sixth meeting of the UN Secretary-General's Special Representatives and Envoys, Regional Directors and Resident Coordinators of the United Nations System in Central Africa will take place from 26 to 27 April in Libreville. This year, participants will discuss a crucial theme: "political dialogues and agreements in Central Africa: challenges, opportunities and prospects". Based on their field experiences, they will make a critical and prospective assessment of the issue. In particular, they will question current mechanisms for peaceful resolution of disputes given that certain approaches are not always effective to meet the expectations of the various stakeholders and populations. What can be done, for example, to avoid escalating tensions or conflicts if non-inclusive dialogues lead to important political and institutional reforms that are contested by key actors in the peace process?

To better support States in their efforts to maintain or consolidate peace...

Beyond this stocktaking exercise, UN officials in Central Africa will review the UN's contribution to the designing and implementation of political and ceasefire agreements. This concerted approach will help to formulate concrete recommendations on the measures to better support the concerned States in their efforts to maintain or consolidate peace, security and sustainable development.

The Resident Coordinators of the United Nations System in Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe have confirmed their attendance to the meeting - its opening ceremony will be presided over by the Gabonese Minister of Foreign Affairs or his representative. Political missions and peacekeeping operations in Central Africa and organizations represented at the regional level (United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa; United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; UNESCO; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa, etc.) will also participate. Several senior UN officials are already in Libreville. For example, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Burundi, Mr. Michel Kafando, arrived in the capital of Gabon on Wednesday, 25 April.

The annual meeting of UN representatives was established in October 2011 by the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA). In accordance with the mandate of UNOCA, the purpose of the meeting is to strengthen coherence and coordination of peace and security activities of the United Nations System in the sub-region. The presence of representatives of regional and sub-regional organizations also enriches discussions on the challenges facing Central Africa as well as on the ways and means to addressing them. At the end of the fifth meeting held from 23 to 24 March 2017 in Libreville, Mr. François Louncény Fall, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Africa and Head of UNOCA, welcomed the fruitful contributions of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC). 

DOWNLOAD THE DOCUMENT REGARDING THE PREVIOUS MEETINGS OF THE UN REPRESENTATIVES IN CENTRAL AFRICA 2011 – 2017