CÔTE D’IVOIRE: UN MISSION URGES PROMPT RESUMPTION OF VOTER REGISTRATION

New York, May 21 2009 6:00PM
The United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire (<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unoci/">UNOCI) today called for a prompt resumption of voter registration to allow for broad participation in the November presidential elections.

UNOCI spokesman Hamadoun Toure told reporters in Abidjan that the Mission "stresses the importance of a strong commitment to expedite the remaining tasks for organizing free, fair and transparent elections in the country."

Of primary importance, he said, was the opening or re-opening of hundreds of closed registration centres and the recovery of documentation damaged in disturbances.

Last Thursday Prime Minister Guillaume Soro announced 29 November as the date for the long-delayed election. Welcoming the announcement, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged "all Ivorian parties to respect this date and to work together to complete the remaining tasks related to the electoral process," in a statement issued by his spokesperson. The elections have been repeatedly postponed, most recently in December of 2008.

Mr. Toure said UNOCI specifically encourages all parties to the ballot to begin registration, help in the publication of provisional electoral lists, confirm voter lists, print and distribute electoral materials and consolidate the legal framework for the electoral campaign and the organization of presidential elections themselves. He added that UNOCI was committed to helping the process.

The Mission has been providing technical and logistical support for preparations for the elections, including in areas such as voter identification and registration.

Some 6 million voters had been registered, or about 70 per cent of the country's eligible voter pool.
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BAN WELCOMES NEW DATE FOR LONG-AWAITED IVORIAN ELECTION

BAN WELCOMES NEW DATE FOR LONG-AWAITED IVORIAN ELECTION
New York, May 15 2009 3:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the announcement by the Government of Côte d'Ivoire of 29 November 2009 as the date for the West African nation's long-awaited presidential election.

"He urges all Ivorian parties to respect this date and to work together to complete the remaining tasks related to the electoral process," his spokesperson said in a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3852">statement.

Last month Mr. Ban had called for a realistic timetable for the holding of credible and transparent polls, which he said would bring to a successful conclusion the current transitional arrangement in the country, which has been divided since 2002 between the Government-held south and a northern area dominated by the rebel Forces Nouvelles.

"Côte d'Ivoire is now at a stage where only two critical processes need to be completed in order to restore normalcy: reunification and elections," he wrote in a report covering the activities of the UN mission in the country, known as <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unoci/">UNOCI.

The mission has been providing technical and logistical support for preparations for the elections, including in areas such as voter identification and registration. Nearly 6 million voters have been identified so far.

In today's statement, Mr. Ban assured the Ivorian parties that the UN will continue to provide the necessary support to help them organize and conduct free, fair and credible elections, including through the certification mandate of his Special Representative for Côte d'Ivoire, Y. J. Choi.
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INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE MUST TURN TO REUNIFICATION – UN OFFICIAL

International efforts in Côte d'Ivoire, long focused on elections, must now prioritize uniting the country, which has been divided since 2002 between the Government and the rebel Forces Nouvelles, a United Nations envoy said today.

"Henceforth, the progress in the electoral process is now contingent on the evolution of the reunification issue," Choi Young-Jin, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative for the West African country, told the Security Council.

Last year, Mr. Choi explained, the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), which he leads, focused its attention on a citizen identification and voter registration operation, providing technical, logistical and financial support for these pre-election needs.

In his latest report on UNOCI, Secretary-General Ban called for a realistic timetable for the holding of the long-postponed elections as a matter of urgency, saying that the polls would bring to a successful conclusion the current transitional arrangement in Côte d'Ivoire.

However, at the onset of 2009, the momentum toward elections weakened when reunification became a precondition for the polls, under new accords reached under the Ouagadougou Political Agreement that guides the country's peace process.

Unfortunately, reunification, in turn, has gotten bogged down due to differences over the centralization of the treasury, the transfer of authority from Zone Commanders to administrative and other necessary, but contentious, issues.

"In sum, as it stands, the prospect for the early elections and reunification cannot be described as encouraging," Mr. Choi said.

On the other hand, the restoration of peace, security and normalcy is making steady progress in the country, and not a single major incident has marred the identification process, which has topped six million people.

Achievements highlighted in Mr. Ban's report included the end of hostilities between the Forces Nouvelles and national troops, the removal of the zone of confidence that had physically divided the country, and the restoration of free movement of people and goods throughout its territory.

In today's statement, Mr. Choi added that ministries remain in place, along with some 40,000 State security forces supported by about $200 million in funds out of a $5 billion annual national budget.

However, he also pointed out that all State institutions are somewhat hampered by the transitional nature of the Government, making political progress necessary.

"This complicated picture of the Ivorian political and electoral map requires some hard thinking on our part," Mr. Choi told the Council.

Noting that the international community up until now had not been heavily involved in reunification, he concluded, "Now that the electoral process is predicated on the reunification issue, we may have to [make] some meaningful contributions to reunification, by extension accelerating the electoral process."
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CÔTE D'IVOIRE: UN CALLS ON PARTIES TO FOCUS ON PEACE PROCESS, STALLED ELECTIONS

The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) has urged political leaders to show restraint and focus on the peace process aimed at unifying the country, which has been divided since 2002 between the Government-held south and a northern area dominated by the rebel Forces Nouvelles.

"It is also imperative to avoid an escalation of verbal confrontation which would only divert attention from the issues that real concern Ivorians," UNOCI spokesperson Hamadoun Touré told journalists in Abidjan.
In response to a question on the call by elements of the Forces Nouvelles for the Prime Minister to resign, Mr. Touré said that it was an internal matter and underscored the importance of the institutional framework established by the Ouagadougou Political Agreement. "We are counting on this system, otherwise we are going to find ourselves in situations which could be beyond our control and take us back."
He noted that there are urgent challenges to overcome in order to organize open, free, fair and democratic elections as soon as possible.

After a meeting with the West-African nation's Prime Minister yesterday, Y. J. Choi, head of UNOCI, told correspondents that there is now peace and stability in the country, with commercial activity in the south, north and west, and the identification and voter registration operation making strides.

However, he said, there have been delays in the electoral process, which now lacks a timetable, along with slow implementation of the latest addendums to the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, especially with regards to the transfer of authority, the centralization of the treasury and the redeployment of the administration in the north.
Earlier, the spokesman had announced that Mr. Choi, who is also the Special Representative of Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, would be presenting the Secretary-General's latest report on the country to the Security Council on 28 April.
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ICRC News Release - Côte d'Ivoire: Some 17,500 people to resume farming

Abidjan (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will today begin to distribute seed and tools to 2,500 families – 17,500 individuals – in Toulepleu, Blolequin and Guiglo.

"The distribution is taking place a few weeks before the rainy season. It is intended mainly for people who fled during the events of 2004 but have decided to return to the area now that it is calm again. The distribution will also benefit those who lost a high proportion of their harvests when flooding occurred in December 2008," said Yves Van Loo, who heads the ICRC sub-delegation in Guiglo.

Those receiving the aid are people whose primary occupation is farming but who cannot afford to buy high-quality seed for the upcoming growing season. "Obtaining basic seed has been my main concern since returning to the village almost five months ago. Now I feel relieved to be able to cultivate my fields again thanks to support from the ICRC," said Goho Gabriel, a man in his fifties living in Toulepleu.

The aid distributed in cooperation with Ivorian Red Cross volunteers – rice and corn seed, and hoes – should enable those receiving it to resume, after a long interruption, the farming activities they carried out in former days. Eventually, they will be able to build up their seed stocks again using proper grain preservation techniques.

The Guiglo sub-delegation opened in 2005. It is one of five local facilities under the supervision of the ICRC's delegation in Côte d'Ivoire. The delegation's work consists mainly in visiting places of detention, enhancing economic security, upgrading water-supply systems, promoting hygiene and supporting medical services. The ICRC also provides support for the efforts of the Red Cross Society of Côte d'Ivoire to help needy people, and spreads knowledge of international humanitarian law among personnel of the country's defence and security forces.

UN-BACKED WORKSHOP TO BOOST THE STATUS OF POLICEWOMEN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

UN-BACKED WORKSHOP TO BOOST THE STATUS OF POLICEWOMEN IN CÔTE D'IVOIRE
New York, Feb 25 2009 7:00PM

Improving the status and effectiveness of women, whose numbers have risen steadily in the past decade, in the police force of the Côte d'Ivoire is the subject of a new training course organized by the United Nations mission known as UNOCI in the West African country.

Some 30 Ivorian police officials are taking the course – created by the UN Police (UNPOL) and the Gender Unit of UNOCI and financed by the German cooperation agency, GTZ – which examines "the reception, work and environment of women in the national police, a milieu previously exclusively for men," according to the mission.

Women now number around 1,700, which is around 10 per cent of national police in Côte d'Ivoire, says UNOCI, which is assisting the implementation of the peace process in the country, following its division into a Government-controlled south and a rebel-dominated north in 2002.

At the launch of the three-day training session, which took place in the city of Grand-Bassam, east of the capital Abidjan, the head of UNOCI's Gender Unit, Eva Dalak, said that the seminar could bring about a better integration of women into the national police.

Reaching that goal, she said, depended on individual responsibility, on leadership and the engagement of participants, who would develop a follow-up plan of action during the course.
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