The Central African Republic (CAR) is near collapse, and the crisis threatens to spread beyond its borders, senior U.N. officials said Wednesday as they urged the Security Council to help fund and support an African Union (AU) peacekeeping force. "The African Union has requested financial, logistical, and technical support. We have recommended to the council to provide this support. We have also recommended to better adapt the U.N. [political] mission to the current situation," U.N. envoy to the CAR Babacar Gaye said. "A much larger and nationally more diversified force is needed to provide security and protect the population," said U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic. "Such a force would also prevent foreign rebel groups ... or Islamist extremist groups from finding a safe haven in the country." U.N. aid chief Valerie Amos said the CAR was on the brink of collapse and every one of the country's 4.6 million people—half of whom are children—had been affected by the crisis. "It is critical for the continued safety of humanitarian operations that the AU mission has the funds and logistical support to operate effectively," Amos said.
