CENTRAL AFRICA: OTHER TWO MILITARY GROUPS ADHERED TO THE DISARMAMENT PROGRAM IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ROAD MAP SIGNED IN ROME.

First steps of the peace process in which the UN has recently reaffirmed its support

Despite the different and difficult circumstances, there are some results in regard to the Road Map for the peace process in the Central African Republic. After the disarmament of a first political-military group in Bangui in the past days, yesterday other 2 over 13 movements, which had signed the agreement in Rome on June 19th, started to put down their weapons in the presence of representatives of the Central African government, UN and Sant'Egidio. This latter actor has promoted the peace and reconciliation process in recent years: first in Bouar, where different members of UFR (Union des Forces Republicaines) delivered machine guns, grenades, rifles and ammunition, then in the village of Zoukombo, by elements of the FDPC (Front démocratique du peuple centrafricaine).
This is a first, but significant start to the country's long-awaited disarmament, which is expected to see, in the coming weeks, the accession of other military and groups involved in the Central African civil conflict according to a national programme established between the parties.
Last Tuesday, the Community of Sant’Egidio had illustrated in New York, at the fringe of the General Assembly at the UN glass building, the latest development of the Road Map for Central Africa. The meeting was between the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, the Central African Republic’s President Faustin-Archange Touadera, the representatives of forty countries, and the head of the International Relations of Sant’Egidio, Mauro Garofalo, who had predicted imminent steps forward in the peace process.