A new United Nations mission has officially taken charge of peacekeeping operations in the Central African Republic.
The 7,600-strong force has the difficult task of ending ethnic and religious bloodshed and help bring back stability to the CAR.
The country plunged into conflict after a coup in March last year by a mainly Muslim rebel alliance which overthrew president Francois Bozize and made their own leader head of state.
The UN force, to be boosted to 12,000 troops, takes over from a smaller African Union deployment which has been stationed in the country since December.
Amnesty International spokesman Steve Cockburn told Santilla Chingaipe the the full deployment of the UN troops is urgently needed.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full interview)
