On Wednesday, citizens of the Central African Republic, a poor but resource-rich country, gathered at voting stations to elect a new leader and parliament. 3 candidates with top-level experience in previous governments are leading predictions.

Voters queue for #CARelections in #CentralAfricanRepublic to bring peace after years of conflict. pic.twitter.com/Pr40dvanZ8

— UN Development (@UNDP) December 30, 2015

The vote—to replace the interim government—had been rescheduled 4 times since early 2015 because sectarian violence kept flaring up and terrorizing districts, making voting implausible.

The violence began in 2013 when an Islamic uprising overthrew the government and installed the Christian-majority country’s first Muslim leader, Michel Djotodia. This only led to increasing conflict as Christian groups took up arms.

Under domestic and international pressure, Djotodia quit in 2014 in an attempt to quell the strife, but skirmishes still roiled the country. Ultimately, 1 in 10 people fled the country during this period. 

Now, however, there’s hope that peace could be returning.

93% of voters recently backed a referendum on a constitutional change that would create a senate, ensure freedom of worship, prevent members of the interim government from being candidates in the new election and limit the presidency to two terms.

All of these measures are intended to promote long-term stability.

11,000 UN peacekeepers are in the country to monitor and shepherd the voting process. And leaders of militias have agreed to stop intimidating and attacking voters.

While a follow-up election is expected in early 2016, these steps towards stability are promising and suggest that the animosity between Christian and Islamic groups could be subsiding. 

As recent as September, sectarian conflict seemed on the verge of plunging the country into endless reprisals. Against that backdrop, the relative peace of today is a major contrast.

Around 62% of the country lived in poverty in 2012. More conflict would further cripple the economy, worsen poverty and limit the government’s ability to provide basic services—not to mention create more casualities and refugees.

The clearest way to prevent this from happening is for a smooth election to take place. Only when the people of CAR elect a new government can the country enter a new era of peace.

And only then can deeper issues of poverty and religious intolerance be addressed.