Côte d’Ivoire: Jordanian UN blue helmets donate medicines to educational institute

Peacekeepers from the Jordanian battalion serving with the United Nations peacekeeping operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) have contributed medicines to an educational institute in Cocody as part of their broader humanitarian efforts to help the divided country.

“Our soldiers, messengers of peace, offer all that they are able with the sole goal of helping Côte d’Ivoire achieve stability and tranquility,” said Colonel Ali Bairat, who commands the battalion.

He said the gift, aimed at helping to fight malaria and provide aid, comes as part of humanitarian activities carried out by the mission in order to help alleviate the suffering of the local population.

Emile Bih, director of the Institut Pédagogique National de l’Enseignement Technique et Professionnel which received the donation, thanked the Jordanian battalion and ONUCI at a ceremony on Monday, saying that the medicine would help the health of the students so that the could better develop.

UNOCI is working to assist the parties in Côte d’Ivoire – which has been divided between the rebel-held north and Government-controlled south since 2002 – to implement the Ouagadougou peace agreement signed earlier this year.