About us
About EU Advisory Mission in the Central African Republic (EUAM RCA)
The Mandate of the EUAM RCA Mission
Like the people in the Central African Republic (CAR), the European Union (EU) wishes to see peace, security and stability in the country. For this to happen, state authority must be extended throughout the country under the rule of law and in respect of human rights principles.
At the invitation of the President of the Central African Republic the European Union Advisory Mission to the Central African Republic (EUAM RCA) was established in December 2019 by the European Council. The Mission was then deployed in July 2020 in Bangui. In July, 2022 the Council extended the mandate of EUAM RCA until 9 August 2024 (see: Central African Republic: Council extends the mandates of the civilian advisory mission and the military training mission - Consilium (europa.eu).
The core of the Mission’s mandate is to provide strategic advice to the CAR Ministry of Interior and Public Security and to the Internal Security Forces. Thus, the Mission supports the functioning of coherent and accountable security providers, under full national ownership.
Strategic objectives of EUAM RCA
The strategic objectives of the EUAM RCA Mission are:
- the sustainable transformation of the Central African Republic’s Internal Security Forces (ISF) and their operational effective functioning and deployment,
- the empowerment of key ministries and institutions at all levels throughout the country,
- the unity of action and complementarity of efforts between the ISF and the relevant actors of the security sector and
- coherence and synergies within the international community to stabilise the CAR in terms of security.
The core activities of the Mission EUAM RCA
The core activities of the EUAM RCA Mission are:
- supporting and advising the Internal Security Forces on capacity building and functional strengthening,
- to provide strategic-level advice on all aspects to the Ministry of Interior and ISF and to promote interoperability to help them deploy progressively and
- close coordination with national and international partners and civil society.
The working approach and principles of the EUAM RCA Mission
EUAM RCA is guided by the following principles:
- participation and empowerment of Central Africans,
- non-discrimination and gender mainstreaming,
- respect for human rights and the environment.
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Head of Mission: José Manuel Marques Dias
The Political and Security Committee of the European Union appointed José Marques Dias (born 1968) EUAM RCA’s Head of Mission on 25 August 2022. Mr. Marques Dias is a Colonel from the Portuguese National Republican Guard (GNR) and served for over 30 years in leading positions.
He has longstanding professional experience in international crisis management and worked in complex political and security environments abroad. From 2017 to 2020 he worked as Deputy Coordinator of the Rapid action groups - Monitoring and intervention in the Sahel (GARSI SAHEL) in Niger and as Security Advisor to the Minister of Interior of East Timor. In 2020 he joined the core team of EUAM RCA as Senior Strategic Adviser on Interoperability with the Central African Armed Forces (FACA). By advising ministries and internal security forces, he was able to gain a deep insight into the security situation in the Central African Republic and to build strong and trusting relationships at national and international level.
Mr. Marques Dias holds university degrees in Law, Security and Military Sciences.
He is fluent in French, English and Spanish.
Flyers and Fact sheets
If you would like to know more about the Mission, please download our flyers and fact sheets:
Decisions regarding the EUAM RCA Mission
Please find here all the decisions regarding the mandate of the Mission: