Nearly a dozen armed groups in the Central African Republic (CAR) have signed a deal to disarm and to end a conflict which has killed thousands, the United Nations (UN) says.

Babacar Gaye, the special representative of the UN secretary-general for the Central African Republic, said 10 armed groups inked the disarmament agreement on Sunday following lengthy negotiations in the CAR capital of Bangui.

Under the deal, the groups agreed to "formally disarm, renounce armed struggle as a means of political demands and enter into a process of Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration and Repatriation (DDRR)."

Gaye welcomed the agreement, saying the accord has turned a page in the country’s history.

"I want to believe that the commitment is sincere, and that we will engage in the construction of progressive peace," said Gaye.

French troops have been deployed in the CAR as part of an international peacekeeping mission to restore security to the country amid a brutal ethnic violence, with Christian militants killing Muslim residents and looting or destroying their properties.

The UN announced earlier this month that it would investigate allegations of sexual abuse of children by French forces in the Central African Republic.

The decision came after recent revelations stated that 14 French soldiers working as UN peacekeepers in the country allegedly engaged in the sexual abuse of hungry refugee children by demanding sexual contact in exchange for food.

The alleged abuse reportedly took place between December 2013 and June 2014 at a center for internally-displaced people in the CAR’s capital of Bangui.

The country has been the scene of violence since December 2013, when Christian militia launched coordinated attacks against the mostly Muslim Seleka group, which toppled the government in March 2013.

More than 5,000 people have reportedly been killed since the outbreak of the violence.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) says nearly one million people have been displaced in the CAR. In addition, UN figures show around 2.7 million people, over half the population of 4.6 million, are in need of humanitarian assistance across the country.