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Côte d'Ivoire + 6 more

Multi-hazard surveillance tool for West African coastal countries : Benin - Côte d’Ivoire - Ghana - Togo (GRANIT) (as of 31 January 2023)

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Context

The security situation in the coastal countries of West Africa (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo) remains precarious. Between January 2021 and January 2023, the number of attacks in the southern areas of Burkina Faso doubled, with a peak in February 2022. This resulted in the displacement of thousands of Burkinabe refugees to north-eastern Côte d’Ivoire and northern Benin. Since the beginning of 2021, numerous incursions by non-state armed groups have been reported in areas sharing the border with southern Burkina Faso. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of security incidents in the coastal countries increased by 139%, with a peak during July 2022. In January 2023, 19 security incidents were recorded in the four countries, which is twice as many as in January 2022.

Public events and statements related to the context of the reporting months (December 2022 - January 2023) are as follows:

• In January 2023, in Côte d’Ivoire, in an effort to prioritize increasing the employment rate of youth to prevent their recruitment by armed jihadist groups, President Alassane Ouattara declared that 2023 would be "The Year of Youth."

• At the end of the 62nd Summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government on December 4, 2022 in Abuja, Nigeria, the Heads of State and Government adopted the creation of a new "intervention force against terrorism and unconstitutional changes in the sub-region."

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