Abeche, 16 October 2009 – Ambassadors representing the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (P5) in Chad arrived in the eastern part of the country for a two-day visit to Iriba, Farchana, Koukou Angarana, and Abeche. The visit provides an opportunity for the diplomats to get a first hand experience of the various humanitarian and logistical challenges in a region characterized by years of instability due to on-going military conflicts, interethnic clashes and the influx of refugees from neighboring Darfur.

The delegation also includes representatives of the European Union Presidency and the European Commission. While in the region, the diplomats will hold meetings with local authorities as well as refugees, displaced persons and humanitarian actors.

A similar visit took place last week in Birao, in the Vakaga province of the Central African Republic as a result of a joint initiative between the UN Integrated Office of the Central African Republic (BINUCA) and the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT).

The visits will provide member states with direct field knowledge in anticipation of the upcoming periodic review by the Security Council of the situation in Chad and Central Africa on 21 October 2009 in New York.

MINURCAT's Area of Operation includes eastern Chad and northeast CAR.