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Côte d'Ivoire + 1 more

Gulf of Guinea Joint Response Plan for refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons, and host communities: Côte d’Ivoire Response Plan (January - December 2024)

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Current Situation

In April 2021, Côte d’Ivoire became the first coastal country to receive people fleeing insecurity and violence in the central Sahel. In 2023, the deterioration of the security situation in Burkina Faso led to an eleven-fold upsurge in numbers over the course of the year, and as of December 2023, Côte d’Ivoire hosted an estimated 45,000 refugees and asylum-seekers1 from Burkina Faso, 36,729 of whom were registered. The majority of forcibly displaced persons in northern Côte d’Ivoire are women and girls (55%), while 31% (around 14,000) are school-age children, and more than 20% are under the age of 5.

In early 2023, to respond to the increasing influx of refugees and asylum-seekers, and the strain on host community resources, the government established two sites on the outskirts of northern towns: Nioronigue, which is in the Ouangolodougou region of Tchologo, and Timalah, which is in the Bouna region of Bounkani. As of February 2024, more than 14,000 refugees and asylum-seekers have been relocated to these sites, while a considerable number chose to stay in villages much closer to the border. In these areas, basic public services and infrastructures in host communities are overwhelmed, exacerbating preexisting vulnerabilities.

Recognizing the challenges faced by the country and communities in hosting Burkinabe refugees and asylum-seekers, in 2022 the UN Country Team adopted the “Plan de Resilience Nord-Est”, a triple nexusbased approach to support the government’s efforts to address immediate needs and ensure community resilience. The “Plan de Resilience Nord-Est” supports the ability of individuals, households, communities, local institutions and systems to absorb and recover from shocks, while continuing to function and adapt in a way that supports long-term prospects for sustainable development, peace and security.

In line with the “Plan de Resilience Nord-Est”, this response plan is led jointly by WFP, UNICEF UNHCR, and IOM with the participation of 15 humanitarian and development partners. This innovative strategy goes beyond immediate emergency assistance, integrating humanitarian and resilience responses into a single plan aligned with national priorities. Through this plan, partners will work together to ensure that forcibly displaced populations and host communities affected by the situation in the central Sahel have effective and equitable access to education, health care, sanitation and other essential socio-economic goods, services and infrastructure, as well as opportunities for sustainable livelihoods (in line with SDGs 1 to 11).