Nigeria on Saturday pledged $1.5 million (N243 million) at an international donor summit of the African Union in support of the African-led International Mission, MISCA, in crisis-stricken Central African Republic, CAR.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Nurudeen Mohammed, announced the pledge as 60 nations came together to raise money for the crisis-ridden country.
“The situation in CAR demands our collective resolve to help that sister country to win the peace and embark on national reconciliation and re-establish critical government infrastructure,” he said.
Mr. Mohammed urged parties to the conflict in CAR to bury their differences, rebuild confidence in one another and resolve to live together in the interest of peace, stability and national development.
The minister called on the people of CAR to rally behind the newly installed Interim Government led by President Catherine Samba-Panza.
In addition to the financial donation, he said Nigeria was prepared to offer technical assistance to CAR with a view to post-conflict reconstruction and development.
The donor summit was held at the end of a weeklong meeting of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The European Union pledged $61 million (N9.92 billion) which is the largest donation yet, and had already given $271 million (N44 billion) since December.
EU Africa Director, Nicholas Westcott, said the bloc was conscious of the urgent need to provide political and financial support to the new transitional government in Bangui.
UN Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, told the conference, “We have a collective responsibility towards the people of the Central African Republic to respond rapidly and robustly and now to prevent further atrocities.”
He appealed to the international community to urgently provide MISCA with the support required.
According to the UN, an estimated one million of the country’s 4.6 million citizens have been displaced during months of religious violence.
Violence erupted in the country after a coup in March 2013 toppled the government.
Around 5,500 AU troops are taking part in the MISCA peacekeeping mission and have been joined by 1,600 French soldiers.
No comments:
Post a Comment