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Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire: OCHA Weekly Update No. 13

I. Political and security situation
The pre-regrouping phase that was due to start on Sunday 31 July 2005 - as per timeframe for the implementation of the Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) process - did not take place, as retaliation against the laws revised and adopted by presidential decree on 15 July 2005. Forces Nouvelles do not consider these laws to be in compliance with what agreed at the Pretoria Summit of 29 June 2005 and contend that their content that was originally agreed upon has been modified.

According to UNOCI Human Rights Division, on 22 July 2005 Defence and Security Forces (FDS) patrolling in Duékoué discovered in a house three rifles, a revolver, a camera and video tapes on military operations. Two people were handed over to the public prosecutor's department in Daloa for further investigation. The curfew initially set at 10 PM in Duékoué was set back to 8 PM by military authorities. According to CIVPOL, an armed attack perpetrated by four assailants on 25 July 2005 in a camp near Glapoudi village (Guiglo-Bloléquin road) caused two deaths (a two-year-old and a three-year-old) and injured four people (a nine-month-old baby, two women and a young man). The wounded were treated at the Guiglo Hospital by MSF-France.

On Sunday 24 July 2005, Forces Nouvelles Secretary General promoted to the rank of Brigadier General former Colonel Soumaila Bakayoko, Head of FAFN and Colonel Michel Gueu, Minister for Sports. The Zone Heads were also raised to the rank of Commander.

II. Humanitarian Situation

Humanitarian access

Movement of humanitarian workers along the various transit corridors has become easier. However, already precarious conditions of roads and bridges have become worst due to the rainy season. This makes it very hard - sometimes even impossible - to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to some western parts of the country, such as the departments of Zou and Danané, in the 18 Mountains Region and the Chantier Colonel area, in the Moyen Cavally Region. FAO is experiencing serious difficulties in distributing agricultural inputs needed for the current planting season.

IDP movements

There were about 3500 IDPs at the Duékoué catholic mission in the period covered by the present report. IDPs from Fengolo who live either at the Duékoué catholic mission or with host families are estimated to be 3000. They have expressed their desire to return to their home areas but on condition that their houses are rebuilt and/or rehabilitated. As of 29 July 2005, the managing committee of the Mié Gou Centre in Yamoussoukro recorded approximately 619 displaced people of which 200 wish to return to their home villages if security conditions are met and if assistance -- in the form of basic items (" return kits") -- is provided.

Water and Sanitation

On July 28 2005, the NGO Solidarités officially handed over to HCR relevant new water and sanitation and waste disposal facilities for the Liberian refugees in the Peace Town camp in Guiglo. Such facilities include two school latrine units, an incinerator and gutters. In addition, twenty-five pumps, 74 latrines, 61 bathrooms, 1600 m of gutters were also rehabilitated. Three waste disposal sites were also rehabilitated and hygiene sensitisation campaigns were carried out. The Peace Town refugee community will be responsible for the maintenance of the facilities and for the implementation of sanitation-related activities together with CARITAS, HCR's operational partner organization in charge of this project.

CARE International indicated that 9 companies appointed for the construction of 38 garbage dump sites in the town of Bouaké have started the construction works in the period covered by the present report.

Health, incl. Nutrition and HIV/AIDS

The NGO IDE Africa trained 480 "pupils-fathers/-educators" in Danané as part of its action strategy against HIV/AIDS. This training activity will be extended next week in Danané to include 200 more children who were involved in or associated with the armed forces in various ways (i.e. the so called "enfants associés"). Moreover, IDE Africa identified 200 HIV-infected people and 150 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Man. With the support of CARE International, IDE Africa will care also for people with opportunist diseases. Finally, this NGO received condoms from MSF/Holland in support of its door-to-door and mass sensitisation activities in the Danané region where 130 HIV-infected people and 90 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) were reported.

From 25 to 30 July 2005, nineteen Caritas (Diocesan Office for Human Promotion) Supervisors and 108 Community Agents from 93 villages in the sub-prefectures of Danané, Sémien and Kouibly were trained by Helen Keller International (HKI) and UNICEF in the fight against onchocercosis.

OFDA has renewed its funding support to Save the Children-U.K. mobile clinic program in Guiglo and Bloléquin. Thanks to these new funds Save the Children-U.K. will be able to resume the mobile clinic activities suspended since March 2005 in the department of Grabo.

A meeting of all humanitarian agencies involved in food security and nutrition interventions was held on 25 July 2005 to examine the reported cases of malnutrition at the Therapeutic Nutrition Centre (TNC) in Man. The humanitarian agencies decided to plan joint curative and preventive activities in Bangolo and northern Danané where most of the cases reported at the TNC originate from. Furthermore, ACF and MSF/Belgium received food supplies from WFP to assist malnourished children treated at Supplementary Nutrition Centres (SNCs) of Zouan Hounien, Bin houyé and Téapleu and at the TNCs of Man and Zouan Hounien.

Protection

During the reporting period, 900 Liberian refugees from Guiglo and Tabou have voluntarily chosen to return to Liberia. The repatriation convoys organized by HCR to this purpose headed to the regions of Maryland and Nimba. To date, 8336 Liberian refugees have been repatriated from Côte d'Ivoire since September 2004, with the support of HCR.

ECHO and KRAFT (an American company operating in Côte d'Ivoire) have recently renewed their funding to Save the Children-U.K. for its project targeting children involved in or associated with the armed forces ("enfants associés"). Thanks to these new grants Save the Children-U.K. is planning to open new sites for its informal education activities in the villages of Tinhou, Méo, Klaon, Séhibli, Pekanbli, and Zéaglo. In addition, as part of its UNICEF-funded Cross-Border Monitoring Program, Save the Children-U.K. carried out a project for the protection of vulnerable children in 27 border villages in the Moyen Cavally and 18 Mountains Regions, together with 5 NGOs and 12 protection committees.

On Monday 25 July 2005, ICRC/Bouaké conducted an induction course on International Humanitarian Law for 32 WFP field staff from Bouaké, Bondoukou and Korhogo.

Education

IOM plans to rehabilitate a school building -- three classrooms, an office for the Headmaster and a warehouse at the Nicla primary school - to allow the enrolment of children from the IDP Temporary Hosting Centre (CATD) into the first grade for the school year 2005-2006. The project includes the construction of a school canteen equipped with a kitchen to make the school eligible for the WFP school canteen program.

As reported by the School Rescue Committee in FN-controlled areas, the Regional Director of National Education (RDNE) was in Korhogo from 22 to 29 July 2005. The Committee assisted the RDNE in collecting data on the schools in the region for the preparation of the upcoming examinations that are expected to take place in August 2005.

Food security

IOM distributed non-food items received from HCR to 446 returnees in Guitrozon, one of the two villages affected by the incidents occurred in Duékoué at the beginning of June 2005. HCR will continue providing non-food items to future returnees in Guitrozon reported by IOM. Moreover, WFP provided food assistance to 3583 IDPs currently sheltered at the catholic mission in Duékoué and renewed its commitment to assist future registered returnees in Fengolo.

On 29 July 2005, WFP/Man started the distribution of seeds and seed protection rations to households in the towns of Sipilou and Facobly and in surrounding villages and provided food supplies to the national NGO IDE Africa (Initiative - Développement - Africa) to assist 150 households affected by HIV/AIDS.

PAM/Korhogo's Lean Season Program implemented in partnership with thirteen women associations and seven NGOs of the region started in the second week of July 2005. The program aims at distributing 3074 tons of foodstuffs to 4178 farmers in different vulnerable areas of Korhogo, Tengrela, Ferké and Boundiali. Moreover, in June PAM/Korhogo started a programme in support of subsistence production activities and livelihoods in the towns of Korhogo and Ferké, in partnership with the NGO Animation Rurale de Korhogo (ARK). From June to August 2005, 76 tons of foodstuffs, small tools, fertilizers and corn seeds will be distributed each month to about 1000 farmers. ARK provided also hollow-rice seeds, small tools and fertilizers to 1000 farmers.

In the second quarter of the year 2005-2006, FAO/Guiglo initiated a food security program aimed at providing hollow-rice and corn to vulnerable populations. The program targeted 3029 extremely vulnerable households, more than one third of which are headed by women. FAO/Man carried out also a post-distribution survey on 20% of beneficiary households in Sémien, Sipilou, Danané and Logoualé. The preliminary results of the study indicate that between 90 and 95% of the beneficiaries actually planted the seeds they received. This positive outcome was made possible by WFP action that contributed significantly to discourage the use of planting seeds for human consumption.

III. Humanitarian Coordination

The project "Rehabilitation of water points self-managed by village communities and improvement of knowledge, attitudes and practices on hygiene and health" will soon be launched by Action Contre la Faim (ACF) in the department of Korhogo. OCHA/Korhogo and the NGOs of the UNICEF DHH (Human Hydraulics Management)-NGO partnership network are providing technical support in the identification of villages to be targeted by the ACF project in order to avoid duplications with other water and sanitation activities implemented in the same region with the support of UNICEF.

IV. Resource mobilization (at 31 July 2005)

No further contributions reported by the Financial Tracking Service (FTS)

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