UNITED NATIONS, April 9 (UPI) -- The ongoing violence in the Central African Republic has prompted the U.N. Security Council to support a measure for a new peacekeeping unit in the country.
The violence, including armed groups terrorizing the north of the country and ongoing practices like the recruitment of children to become soldiers, led to a recommendation from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to establish a new presence in the country, the United Nations reported.
Mexican Ambassador Claude Heller, who holds the rotating Security Council presidency for April, announced the council's plans to establish a new "integrated U.N. unit" that would replace the existing U.N. peace-building office in the country.
Officials said the new unit would provide "assistance for elections, government reforms and demobilization efforts, along with the facilitation of continued national dialogue," according to a news release.
The United Nations estimates that more than 300,000 people have been forced from their homes in the Central African Republic since 1999 as a result of the ongoing violence.
