UN confirms security plans for upcoming Ivorian presidential election

The United Nations mission in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) has confirmed that coordinated security arrangements will be in place with the aim of providing conditions for a successful presidential election in Côte d’Ivoire which is scheduled for November.

UNOCI announced to reporters yesterday that the initiative will involve the Ivorian army, the former rebel Forces Nouvelles, UN peacekeepers in Liberia (UNMIL) and Cote d’Ivoire, and the Security Council-mandated French force Licorne. They will secure Ivorian borders and provide security inside the country during the voting period.

“We are absolutely committed to the free movement of Ivorian voters,” UNOCI Force Commander General Fernand Marcel Amoussou said.

The Force Commander of UNMIL General Chikadibia Obiakor said that the security arrangements will be in place from 19 June on the border between Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia.

Earlier this week a Security Council delegation met with officials in the country’s capital, Abidjan, where they discussed the ongoing peace process in the West African nation and the presidential election.