It comes on the heels of demands of additional 17 million dollars for the upcoming elections.

The European Union has announced it will increase financial support to the Central African Republic (CAR) as efforts continue to help the country recover from conflict, Pan European Network reports. The report, corroborated by other news agencies, specifies that the European Union is stepping up its support to CAR by 72 million Euros (about FCFA 47.2 billion).

This was within the sidelines of an international conference in Brussels on boosting support to CAR which the EU hosted yesterday May 27, 2015. Focus was on the country’s humanitarian needs, recovery and resilience building. Information from the European Commission notes that “this support includes humanitarian aid (with €10m of fresh funding), budget support (with an addition of €40m) and a new contribution to the EU Trust Fund for the CAR (€22m extra).

EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini is quoted as saying that “After years of conflict, the people of the Central African Republic deserve a present and a future of peace. Since the beginning of this crisis, we as the EU have been by their side to help bring recovery, stability and development to the country. The recent Bangui Forum has launched a process towards national reconciliation which is led by Central Africans themselves; with today’s conference, we reaffirm our commitment, together with our international partners, to support them on their path towards recovery and peace.”

On the sidelines of the Brussels’ conference, the interim president of the Central African Republic, Catherine Samba Panza, urged rich donor countries to deliver on aid promised to her war ravaged nation, including funds to pay for elections later this year. Sources say Bangui still needs $17m (about FCFA10.25 billion) to hold the elections, which are seen as a critical step to avoiding an irreversible descent into a failed State.

“I reaffirm my determination to organise democratic and credible elections... which will whatever the case take place before the end of 2015," Samba Panza told reporters after a donor's conference at EU headquarters in Brussels. Analysts say the Central African Republic government is in an effort to organise elections and leave behind a brutal conflict sparked after a 2013 coup pitting mainly Muslim rebels against Christian vigilantes.

Earlier this month, a national reconciliation forum called for presidential and legislative elections to be delayed to give the transitional authorities more time to organise the polls. But the recommendation drew protests in the capital city Bangui despite the backing of over 600 national stakeholders.