 |
|
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
COTE D IVOIRE: Four years of crisis puts millions in need
YAMOSSOUKRO, 5 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - Peace talks to breathe new life into Cote d’Ivoire’s moribund peace process got underway on Tuesday to help bring an end to a four-year war that has put three million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
President Laurent Gbagbo, Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, rebel New Forces leader Guillaume Soro and political opposition leaders Henri Konan Bedie and Alassane Ouattara gathered in the capital Yamoussoukro.
“We came to hear the prime minister’s proposals to find a way out of the crisis. We think these proposals will be good,” said Soro.
United Nations officials say presidential and legislative elections scheduled for 31 October are unlikely to be held, calling into question who will lead the country after that date when Gbagbo’s term expires. The UN extended his mandate for one year in 2005 but there are growing fears that efforts to further prolong his rule could touch off violence.
Cote d'Ivoire has been split in two since an attempt to topple Gbagbo failed in September 2002. Some 10,000 UN and French peacekeepers monitor a ceasefire and a buffer zone between the rebel north and the government south.
The conflict has displaced an estimated 750,000 people, most of whom have been taken in by host families. About 7,000 immigrant farmers who fled their plantations in the west during the first months of the war now live in a displaced camp in the western town of Guiglo. UN agencies provide food, water and basic health care. A recent survey by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) showed that a third of displaced children had no access to education.
The volatile western region has been the scene of repeated clashes between indigenous people and migrant farmers, and tension remains high there. Last month, scores of villagers fled to the nearby town of Bangolo after tit-for-tat attacks between immigrants from neighbouring Burkina Faso and the local Guere ethnic group.
International NGOs continue to focus on reconciliation programmes. Some of the NGOs say they have entered the post-conflict phase with the return of local staff to the rebel zone. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which runs hospitals and clinics in the rebel-held west, is shifting from emergency aid to providing technical assistance now that the Health Ministry is gradually redeploying staff to the area.
The lack of clean water remains a major problem in the rebel-held north. The towns of Bouake and Korhogo have suffered from acute water shortages. In the countryside, 40 percent of hydraulic pumps are broken down. The Cote d'Ivoire government, in collaboration with the UN children's agency (UNICEF), has repaired nearly 5,000 pumps, but another 3,000 still need work.
An estimated 60 percent of the Ivorian population has no access to basic healthcare facilities, according to Youssouf Oomar of UNICEF. The problem is particularly serious in the main city, Abidjan, as social and health services cannot keep up with demand. It is estimated that the city has grown by up to a million people to a population of nearly four million since the war began.
pb/ls/cs
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
