Humanitarian workers must be protected in Côte d’Ivoire, says UN relief coordinator

Underlining the principles and laws governing humanitarian work after the burning and looting of United Nations and partner offices in Côte d’Ivoire, Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said today the Government has pledged to prevent further attacks.

“The Government has assured me that it will not happen again and that actions will be taken to prevent it,” he said on the first day of his three-day visit to the West African country.

Mr. Egeland will meet national and local authorities and humanitarian communities in Abidjan, the commercial centre, in Bouaké, the stronghold of the armed opposition, and in Guiglo, where facilities of 10 organizations were attacked by a youth group called the Young Patriots that supports President Laurent Gbagbo.

The attackers were protesting a decision by the UN-authorized International Working Group that would effectively have dissolved the National Assembly, whose mandate had expired in December. Last week Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent a bill to Mr. Gbagbo for the damage to UN premises.

Mr. Egeland, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said targeting the staff and assets of international humanitarian organizations was to be deeply regretted.

“The United Nations humanitarian organizations in Côte d’Ivoire are doing impartial, neutral and apolitical work to assist people in a situation of great need,” he said.

“We want to continue our work,” he added. “We will have regular meetings with the Government to discuss concrete measures to protect civilians and the neutrality of our work.”

Mr. Egeland met with Foreign Minister Youssouf Bakayoko and the Inter-Agency Humanitarian Coordination Committee to discuss humanitarian concerns and priorities.

Before leaving the country on Friday, Mr. Egeland will meet with beneficiaries of humanitarian action, Government officials, representatives of humanitarian organizations, and others, bringing relevant parties together to commit themselves to respecting freedom of movement, protecting civilians and providing security for humanitarian workers.

The UN maintains a peacekeeping force in Cote d’Ivoire with a total of more than 7,500 uniformed personnel, while thousands of UN civilian staff provide humanitarian assistance to a large portion of the population of 17 million people in addition to refugees from neighbouring countries.

A failed coup in September 2002 began a civil war that has left Cote d’Ivoire split between a rebel-held north and a government-controlled south. Both parties are now are now represented in a Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny.

Meanwhile, Force Commander Lt.-Gen. Chikadibia Obiakor of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) announced that he is sending a Nigerian mechanized infantry company to the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) in response to a Security Council resolution that was approved earlier this month.

The unit comprises 200 soldiers and officers, together with 14 armoured personnel carriers and support vehicles. The deployment started on Tuesday and is scheduled to end on Friday, he said.