Peace process in Côte d’Ivoire is gaining momentum, UN official says

Despite some political jockeying between government factions in Côte d’Ivoire, the coalition government is carrying out its duties and the fragile peace process is gathering momentum, a United Nations relief official said today.

“We are at a turning point, with the peace process now headed in the right direction,” Abdoulaye Mar Dieye of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told a press briefing in New York.

Fierce fighting between the Government of Côte d'Ivoire and rebel forces, which erupted in September 2002, largely ended with a peace agreement signed in Linas-Marcoussis, France, in January last year. The deal called on the Government, rebels and political opposition to share power in a transitional government until elections take place next year.

French forces, known as Licorne, and a smaller number of West African peacekeeping troops, aided by a small United Nations mission (MINUCI), have been keeping the former warring parties apart. The country remains split between a rebel-held north and government-controlled south.

Safe water and sanitation are scarce and 80 per cent of the local medical centers have been damaged or destroyed, Mr. Dieye said. Some 700,000 children are unable to attend school because the facilities have been leveled or looted, and over 500,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) cannot get help from local authorities.

“In order to nurture the peace process and avoid any reversals, we must invest in humanitarian action,” Mr. Dieye stressed.

OCHA launched a consolidated UN appeal for $69 million earlier this year to meet urgent humanitarian needs and support the return home of the IDPs, he said.