The Central African Republic is strengthening its national capacity for mine action and small arms control, with the support of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), with the aim of making these security functions sustainable.
UN Deputy Special Representative Ebrima Ceesay on October 21, 2026, visited the National Mine Action Authority (ANLAM) and the National Commission for the Fight against the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (COMNAT-ALPC) in Bangui to assess progress made through the partnership with the United Nations.
Established in September 2025, ANLAM is receiving support from the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) to strengthen its operational capacity. That support helped secure, in June 2026, the validation of the 2026-2031 National Mine Action Strategy and the 2026-2028 National Action Plan.
UN assistance also covers rehabilitating infrastructure and supplying IT equipment, vehicles and specialised equipment for demining operations. Despite these gains, the agency still needs to expand its staff, provide further technical training for its personnel and extend its presence beyond Bangui.
The delegation also visited COMNAT-ALPC, created in 2017, where it watched demonstrations of weapons marking and destruction. These operations are intended in particular to prevent the diversion of small arms and light weapons and to stop them being reused.
The commission’s president, Benjamin Saraganza, stressed the importance of marking for tracing weapons in the event of theft or loss. He also spoke of the need to permanently destroy obsolete weapons to keep them from falling into the wrong hands.
At the end of his visit, Ceesay welcomed the results achieved through cooperation between the United Nations and national institutions. He reaffirmed MINUSCA’s commitment to continue its support, within the limits of available resources, to consolidate local capacity and enable Central African authorities to take lasting ownership of these tasks.
ANLAM officials are seeking, in particular, a further two years of technical support from UNMAS, while COMNAT-ALPC said it needs equipment, logistical resources and funding to extend its activities into the interior of the country.
TE/Sf/lb/as/APA