UN plea for support for transitional process

The UN Security Council has called on the international community to provide the necessary aid to ensure the success of the transitional process in the Central African Republic (CAR), UN News reported on Wednesday. The call was made following a closed-door Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York. UN News reported that Council members had called for steps to consolidate stability in the CAR and pave the way for democratic elections scheduled for early 2005. After the meeting, Council President Ambassador Mihnea Ioan Motoc of Romania read a statement on behalf of the members, commending "the positive evolution of the political situation in the Central African Republic and the progress made in the economic and financial fields". UN News said Motoc also welcomed "the various steps taken in the political field, in particular the establishment of the mixed and independent electoral commission that represents an important step towards the restoration of constitutional legality". The statement was made after Gen Lamine Cissé, the representative of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the CAR, briefed the Council on the situation in the country. A UN peace-building mission, known by its French acronym BONUCA, has been in the CAR since February 2000 when it took over from a UN peacekeeping mission. The intervention was a response to the CAR's recent history of instability and violence. UN News reported that in his statement, Motoc outlined a number of steps to be taken by the CAR authorities, with the "top priority" being free, transparent and democratic presidential and legislative elections at the beginning of 2005. The Council members had urged the CAR authorities "to facilitate the greater involvement of Central African women in the electoral transition process which is under way", and also "to do everything possible to fight against human rights violations", Motoc said, calling for sustained restructuring of the country's defence and security forces.