The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution to extend for a year the sanctions against non-state armed groups and other individuals undermining peace in the Central African Republic.

The 15-member council unanimously adopted Resolution 2827 in its 10204th meeting held in New York, extending the mandate of the panel of experts assisting in the implementation of the sanctions until August 31, 2027.

The council said that, under those terms, member states are required to take the necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale, or transfer of arms and related materiel of all types to armed groups and associated individuals operating in the country.  

The sanctions also include a travel ban and asset freezes targeting individuals undermining peace in the country.

Permanent CAR representative at the meeting, Hoja Nzessioue, lauded the adoption as necessary to provide clarity on the challenges confronting the country.

“This adoption also provides us with an opportunity to consider the road we have travelled and the challenges that remain,” Mr Nzessioue stated.

While urging member states to abide by the renewed sanctions, the representative requested the council to consider sanctions against the financiers of those groups and their beneficiaries.

“The question is not about the armed groups themselves, but about the wider ecosystem. Collective Council action can yield results,” he added.

CAR remains highly volatile and trapped in a state of pervasive insecurity as armed groups—and notably, the cross-border supply networks that fuel them—pose a serious challenge.  

The renewed sanctions, which were first established in 2013 amid widespread armed conflict, grave human rights abuses and severe political instability in the country, were intended to restrict the flow of weapons, deter individuals and entities undermining peace and the political transition.

They were also designed to hold accountable those responsible for violence, attacks against civilians and violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.