The United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) was established on 1 January 2011. Based in Libreville (Gabon), it was officially inaugurated on 2 March 2011. Its current missions and priorities are highlighted in a letter dated 21 August 2024 addressed to the President of the Security Council by the UN Secretary-General. Its mandate, which has evolved since the first letter on 11 December 2009 (S/2009/697), takes into account the new challenges facing Central Africa. The one proposed for the period 2024-2027 is structured around four main objectives and is implemented in close collaboration with the subregional and regional partners concerned as well as the relevant United Nations entities. 

▪ GOOD OFFICES 

The Security Council invites UNOCA to «monitor political and security developments in Central Africa and carry out good offices on behalf of the Secretary-General in order to prevent and resolve conflicts, to help sustain peace and to advise the Secretary-General and United Nations entities in the region on sustaining peace issues in Central Africa». Deployment here aims at preventing and resolving conflicts, « in particular in countries facing electoral or institutional crises or violent conflicts ». Regular analysis, for early warning purposes, are produced to anticipate certain situations or to address them with the necessary hindsight. 

▪ CONFLICT PREVENTION AND MEDIATION

The Security Council insists on the need to «enhance subregional capacities for conflict prevention and mediation in countries of the subregion, with due attention to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, including human rights and gender dimensions». Apart from the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), UNOCA is called upon to cooperate with the African Union (AU), the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC), the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and other key partners. The Security Council encourages UNOCA to « assist them, as appropriate, in promoting and consolidating peace, security and stability and in addressing the root causes of conflicts in Central Africa [...] ». The establishment of partnerships with civil society as well as support to sub-regional civil society networks is also part of its priorities. 

▪ ACTIONS FOR PEACE AND SECURITY 

Another important point of the missions assigned to UNOCA: « Support and enhance United Nations efforts in the subregion, as well as regional and subregional initiatives on peace and security, including from human rights and gender perspectives ». Among the expectations formulated here, there is the mobilization, at the sub-regional level, of « support for the peace process in the Central African Republic, in close cooperation with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic ». 

Other aspects include the promotion of good governance as well as advocacy for measures to address « persistent and emerging threats to peace and security, including those related to the continued presence of armed groups such as the Lord’s Resistance Army in the subregion and of terrorist groups in the Lake Chad Basin and Sahel region ». Several other challenges are listed, including implications of climate change in Central Africa. 

▪ COORDINATION OF THE UN ACTIVITIES 

UNOCA’s mandate also includes the strengthening of « the coherence and coordination in the work of the United Nations in the subregion on peace and security ». On this last point, the Security Council stresses, among other things, the importance of interactions with Resident Coordinators and United Nations country teams. Improved collaboration and coordination with the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) is also highlighted. The aim being to « strengthen the action carried out by United Nations entities, regional and international efforts to address cross-cutting and cross-border challenges to peace and security ».

The mandate of UNOCA has been extended several times. On 31 August 2024, the Security Council renewed it for a period of three years.