YAOUNDE, CAMEROON, 21 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - A donor conference for the Central African Republic (CAR) has ended in the Cameroonian capital Yaounde, with funding assurances to the poverty-stricken nation. Full report

BANGUI, 20 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - Foreign ministers from Africa's Great Lakes region began a meeting on Monday in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic to finalise preparations for a heads of state summit due to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, later in the year.Full report

NAIROBI, 20 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - A donor conference for the Central African Republic began on Monday in the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, organised by the United Nations.Full report

BANGUI, 17 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - The national Red Cross of the Central African Republic has confirmed it had buried more dead bodies than officially announced following violence in the northwestern town of Pahoua on 29 December 2005.Full report

BANGUI, 13 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - UN agencies and NGOs in Central African Republic have decided to begin relief aid operations to the country's northwest by first helping civilians in and around the border town of Markounda, a UN official said on Monday.Full report

BANGUI, 10 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - UN agencies in the Central African Republic began a meeting on Friday in the capital, Bangui, to put in place aid strategies for thousands of people in the bandit-hit northwestern provinces of Ouham and Ouham Pende.Full report

NAIROBI, 8 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - 4 Jan - Francois Bozize, who seized control of the Central African Republic (CAR) when he ousted President Ange-Felix Patasse in a 2003 coup, decides to extend to eight the list of candidates allowed to contest the country's presidency in elections on 13 February.Full report

BANGUI, 7 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - At least 2,000 villagers in two provinces in the northwest of the Central African Republic are hiding in the bush without food while an equal number has fled to neighbouring Chad recently to avoid fighting between the army and bandits, local sources said.Full report

KHARTOUM, 7 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - The first batch of 10,000 Sudanese refugees who have lived in the Central African Republic for 16 years arrived home this week following a recent agreement between the two governments and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.Full report

BANGUI, 2 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - Some 5,000 Sudanese refugees living in the Central African Republic could return home by April following the signing of a tripartite agreement between the two governments and the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the agency said. Full report

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Year in Brief: CAR 2005 - A chronology of key events

GREAT LAKES: Year in Review 2005 - Returnees and refugees

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Major challenges remain one year after end of rebellion

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Impact of war on the northwest

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: The plight of rape victims endures

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: IMF interview on assistance to new government

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Post-election focus – a country in crisis or recovery?

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Pre-election interview with Lamine Cisse, UN special representative