On
CAR, Bangura
on
Fighters'
Wives, Vogt on
Glass 1/4
Full, EU in
the Wings
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 11 --
When the UN
Security
Council
belatedly met
about the
Central
African
Republic on
Friday, there
were two UN
briefers, not
one.
By
video, envoy
Margaret Vogt
went out of
her way to
find silver
linings
in the chaos,
saying it
brought about
dialogue and
that the
northwest
of the country
was not
impacted by
the Seleka
rebellion.
In
person, sexual
violence in
conflict envoy
Zainab
Hawa Bangura
recounted how
a planned
remobilization
of child
soldiers from
the
CPJP rebels
went bad, with
the children
moved at the
last minute
and
the rebels
insisting that
girl child
soldiers were
wives of the
combatants.
What
happened to
these suddenly
moved
children?
Bangura said
that a member
of the child
protection
team was
assaulted. How
will the UN
follow
up?
Meanwhile,
the
CAR
Peacebuilding
configuration
still does not
have a chair.
As
Inner City
Press
reported, the
European Union
wants it.
French
Ambassador
Gerard Araud
told Inner
City Press, on
camera, that
the EU
is not a
candidate, but
that keeps
being disputed
by other EU
members.
The
political
problem at the
UN is that the
EU is not a
state, and
some in the EU
think that
only states
should chair
peacebuilding
configurations.
The
EU points out
that it is the
largest donor.
Has there been
a
reduction in
EU aid? Watch
this site.
Footnote:
Outside the
Security
Council, it
was remarked
and agreed, by
Permanent
Representatives
from three
continents,
that it is
France's
former
colonies that
are falling
apart: yesterday
Mali,
today the CAR,
tomorrow who
knows. We ask again:
should they
"have the
pen"?
We'll see.
, 
