Daloa, 15 April 2012... On his way from Liberia where he had met officials of the peacekeeping mission in the country which shares a border with Côte d'Ivoire, the Under Secretary-General in charge of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, Hervé Ladsous, made a stopover in Daloa, situated some 400 km centre west of Abidjan.

Having arrived in Côte d'Ivoire the same day by road from the Liberian locality of Toe Town, Mr. Ladsous first went to Toulepleu where he held a series encounters with local authorities, representatives of UN agencies and former refugees who recently returned to their homes.

He landed in Daloa in the afternoon, accompanied by the head of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), Bert Koenders, the Military Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General (MILAD), General Babacar Gaye, and UNOCI's Force Commander, General Gnakoudé Béréna. Speaking on his arrival, Mr. Ladsous said he would be holding discussions with civilian and military personnel deployed in the city of antilopes, in order to understand the support provided by UNOCI to the Ivorian authorities with regard to security in Sector West – an area which was badly affected by the post-electoral crisis.

In UNOCI's Sector West regional headquarters, Malick Faye, the acting head of the regional office and the deputy sector commander, Colonel Abidin Saiful, briefed Mr. Ladsous on the situation in the area, which they said was plagued by security problems and inter-community tensions. They also outlined the actions being carried out by UNOCI to strengthen social cohesion, protect the population and restore state authority.

After the presentations, Mr. Ladsous said he was satisfied with the enormous work that UNOCI was doing through its different components. He also stressed the immense task which still had to be accomplished. With regard to the main concern of the United Nations, he noted the porosity of the border between Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia, which had been the source of a number of security problems and the refugee issue.

Mr. Ladsous and his delegation later left Daloa for Abidjan.