Crisis in Côte d'Ivoire Situation Report No. 19

5th January 2004 - 16th January 2004
1. Significant Events/ Highlights

Ethnic clashes, aggravated by the cocoa harvest, continue to plague the west of the country. Since 29th December, 18 people have died. The conflict has also led to an increase of IDPs fleeing to the transit camps of Guiglo.

UN secretary general Kofi Annan has recommended the deployment of more than 6,000 UN peacekeeping troops to Côte d’Ivoire, to disarm former combatants and guarantee security during elections planned for October 2005.

The Minister of Education has reported that schools will reopen in the Forces Nouvelles controlled zone (rebel held territories) on 3rd February. Exams for the past school year are scheduled from 29th January to 6th February. Ensuring education for IDP children is an issue warranting concern.

The general director of UNESCO, M. Koïchiro Matsuura met with President Laurent Gbagbo to discuss UNESCO’s future cooperation with Côte d’Ivoire. This included a reinforcement of the educational capacities for the fight against AIDS. UNESCO will also continue to lend their support towards the protection of Taï and Comoé National Park.

2. Political Situation & Security

Ethnic clashes continue in the west of Côte d’Ivoire, particularly in villages around and between Zou, Bangolo, Blolèquin and Guiglo, located within and south of the confidence zone, which is supposedly a weapons-free zone. The most recent incident reported by the French Licorne force, occurred on the 5thJanuary in Kahin. Here ethnic clashes led to the death of six individuals non-native to the area (Burkinabé, Guinean and Baoule from central Côte d’Ivoire). With the December-March cocoa harvest in full swing the fight for control of the harvest from cocoa plantations has become heated.

Since 29th December, French peacekeeping troops have found 18 bodies of people killed as a result of ethnic clashes. These episodes are evidence that violence has continued despite a ceasefire that has held firm in the rest of the country since last May and despite the presence of large numbers of French peacekeepers in the area. The French forces have asked the government’s paramilitary gendarmerie to send reinforcements to the West to help patrol the area that lies south of the demilitarised zone.

The National DDR (Disarmament, Demobilisation and Rehabilitation) Committee gathered together with the armed forces of the Government (FANCI), New Forces (ex-rebels), the "impartial forces" (French and MICECI) and MINUCI at Yamoussoukro from Wednesday 7th through Friday 9th January to participate in a "Workshop on the Validation of the Operational Documents for the DDR process". No official date for the commencement of DDR has been announced yet.

French forces have started to deploy more widely into the rebel-held north of Côte d’Ivoire. An advance party of 20 French peacekeeping troops has reached the northern towns of Korhogo and Ferkessedougou. The aim being to secure the main trade routes leading through the north of the country.

3. Humanitarian Situation & Response

The humanitarian situation remains precarious in numerous places in Côte d’Ivoire, as a direct consequence of the political crisis. The number of IDPs and refugees continues to rise, as does the demand for basic needs (food and shelter) and public services in the health and education sector. Humanitarian organisations continue to address these areas of concern. "Ensuring that humanitarian aid is distributed based on need, not politics remains the responsibility of donors and multilateral organizations as well as humanitarian agencies"¹.

3.1Coordination

OCHA is in the process of planning an inter-agency mission to Korhogo and the outlying area, to assess and evaluate the current humanitarian situation. Since 19th September 2002 the Northern part of the country, under the control of New Forces, has been particularly affected by the crisis. The humanitarian situation has been described as precarious and vulnerable.

3.2 Population Movements (refugees, IDPs, returnees)

The incidents of violent inter-community clashes in the west have led to an increase in the number of IDPs gathering in Guiglo. In the last few week 180 IDPs (Burkinabé) have arrived to the transit site Nicla I². The two transit camps (Nicla I and II) are struggling with problems of lack of appropriate shelter and sanitation. With the number of IDPs now over 7000 the situation has become urgent. IOM has taken over the management of these camps and are together with the NGO "Solidarités", addressing the immediate problems.

In Bin Houye and Danane the situation of over 7000 Liberian refugees along the border remains serious. Many have suffered from the lack of food and basic necessities. With the border to Liberia only 3km away, the area, which has experienced intense fighting and pillaging during the crisis, has been difficult for humanitarian agencies to access. WFP and UNHCR are seeking permission from the local authorities to begin food distributions to Liberian refugees in this area.

In Danane more than 1600 orphans, some of which have become orphaned as a result of the crisis, are being assisted at four centers established by the NGO "PHA". WFP are providing the children with food aid and UNICEF are lending their technical support.

In Abidjan, UNHCR reports that 9608 refugees have been accepted for the United States Repatriation Program (USRP) led by IOM. Of these 5687 have been interviewed and 4534 have been accepted for the second phase, however only 1680 were able to travel the same day. There are still many refugees residing in the transit camps of Abidjan.

CARE is conducting pilot studies in preparation for their RRR (reinsertion, reintegration and rehabilitation) program. The program consists of two parts; one concerning micro-projects for the reconstruction of infrastructure; the other concerning reconciliation through a community level approach, interacting with local and informal authorities.

3.3 Protection/ Human Rights

Last year the Ministry of Human Rights established a human rights hotline. The hotline is open to the public so they may report any violations of human rights. This information should enable a rapid response from the ministry, with respect to mobilising further enquires and notifying the relevant authorities, so that the culprits may be apprehended and brought before a court of justice. The protection sector group (UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO) were provided with this tlf. number: 80 00 02 20 in Dec. 2003. Random tests of the number show that the service should be reinforced.

In December UNHCR sponsored a program for peaceful coexistence in Guiglo. The project was put into action together with their partner NGO "ASAPSU". The program that included a number of cultural events, sports activities and a concert by "Magic System"³, was considered a success.

3.4 Food aid/ Food Security / Agriculture

In Yamoussoukro food prices have stabilised. The inflation noted during the festive season has begun to stabilise, bringing the prices on main commodities back to normal.

In Guiglo a post-distribution monitoring exercise was held by WFP in the Nicla refugee camp on the 29-30th December. Seventy-seven households were interviewed. Most of the refugees came from the town of Zwedu in northeast Liberia. 78% of the interviewed were satisfied with the organization of the distributions. 77% consumed the total of their ration while the rest share their ration and/or exchange part of it. Many of the interviewed said they shared their ration with other refugees who have not been registered by UNHCR. UNHCR reported in December that 1516 people were waiting to be screened to gain access to food aid

3.5 Health incl. HIV/AIDS and Water & Sanitation

The UNICEF-led Anti-Measles and vitamin A supplement campaign ended in late December and covered the districts of Boufle, Zuenoula, Sinfra, Sakassou, Beoumi, Katiola and Dabakala, on both sides of the confidence zone in central CDI. A total of 567,930 children have been vaccinated against measles and 177, 933 children have received vitamin A Supplement. The campaign was supported by The Ministry of Health, WHO, French Cooperation, ICRC, IFRC, Medecins Sans Frontieres and WFP.

Bringing the total number of children vaccinated through this and an earlier campaign held in April in the districts of Boauke, Yamassoukro and Tiebissou, to a total of 808,383 children against measles; and a total of 307,355 children who received the vitamin A supplement.

UNICEF plans to continue this campaign with its partners by late Jan/ early Feb 2004 to include the vaccination of over 450,000 children from the Northern districts.

At the Mie N’gou transit center in Yamoussoukro, UNICEF provided medical supplies in November, which should last through the end of January. UNICEF has also provided sanitation and hygiene facilities from which the center still benefits, including: Latrines, showers, supplementary water points, garbage receptacles, cleaning materials, tarpaulins, educational and recreational materials.

UNFPA have provided the Forces Licorne with 2 kits including 69,000 condoms and 1 kit 6 for child delivery assistance. These kits are meant for civilians in areas where humanitarian assistance is needed.

CARE is currently involved with four projects for the fight against AIDS. The target areas for their AIDS sensibilisation projects include the precarious zones of Abidjan as well as the city and surrounding rural areas of Boauké.

3.6 Education

A ministry of Education evaluation mission is in process. The Minister Michel Amani N’guessan arrived in Bouake on the 16th January, he is also scheduled to travel to Odienne, Korhogo and Man.

The ministry of education has reported that schools will reopen in New Forces (Forces Nouvelles) controlled zones (rebel held territories) on 3rd February. Exams for the past school year are scheduled from 29th January to 6th February. The national Minister of Education, Michel Amani N’guessan has announced that about 46, 000 children will sit exams in the rebel held cities of Bouake, Korhogo, Odienne and Man.

Many schools in the north of Côte d’Ivoire have barely been running or completely closed since the country plunged into civil war in September 2002.

According to the Ministry of Education, only 250,000 of the 700,000 school pupils in northern C.I were able to receive some kind of education over the last 15 months.

In the beginning of January UNICEF met with the European Union to discuss a 1.5 million Euro project proposal for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of schools in government-held zones. UNICEF will support the 2004 National Plan for Education, currently in the planning stage, by supporting a back to school program for some 700,000 children, with concentration on gender parity, curriculum development and teacher training, extra-curricular HIV/AIDS prevention, early childhood development centres and informal education structures. Areas with high concentrations of IDPs will be particularly targeted, as will zones controlled by New Forces.

In many areas, particularly Guiglo, there is a concern regarding the provision of education for the many IDPs located at the transit camps. Many schoolteachers are reluctant to return to their posts, and with the already limited space available in the existing schools it is not apparent how the IDPs can be guaranteed an education.

The World Bank announced on 6th January that it would contribute US$57 million to reconstruct Côte d’Ivoire’s war-affected school system, while France announced a $1.9 million contribution.

4. Employment

UNICEF is contributing US$ 10,000 and one consultant to a study on employment and reinsertion opportunities, in the framework of the national process of DDR, which began last week in cooperation with UNDP, ILO, UNIDO and FAO.

5. Resource Mobilisation

The European commission has adopted three humanitarian aid packages totalling 78 million EURO of which 18 million EURO are destined for Coastal West Africa Region. In Côte d’Ivoire where the humanitarian situation remains volatile, ECHO assistance for 2004 will concentrate on health, nutrition and protection.

Information sources include the Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN). With the exception of public UN sources, reproduction or redistribution of the above text, in whole, part or in any form, requires the prior consent of the original source. This situation report is posted on www.reliefweb.int, an information resource for humanitarian crises.

Footnotes:

¹ According to a report from ODI: "Beyond the headlines: An agenda for action to protect civilians in neglected conflicts", 2004.

² The IDPs have arrived from Troya II, a village located 31 km from Guiglo towards Blolequin.

³ "Magic System" is a well-known Ivorian pop band, who advocate for peace and tolerance for refugees.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact:

Ms. Besida Tonwe, Head of Office
tel. +225-2240-5175
Ms. Carina Maard, Public Information Officer
e-mail: carina@ocha.ci