A UN Security Council delegation arrived in Abidjan today for a one day official visit. The delegation, which is led by the Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the United Nations, Michel Kafando met with President Laurent Gbagbo and representative of civil society organisations

The Public Information Office today started a week-long training seminar for local radio journalists in the Abengourou area in eastern Côte d'Ivoire. Some 40 participants representing various local radios are taking part in the seminar which is aimed at supporting the peace process, national reconciliation and the organization of free and fair elections. The theme of the seminar is "Civic Education in an Electoral Period" and will train the journalists in the professional code of ethics.

 

 

UNOCI this weekend formally handed over the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) site in Odienné (north), which it had renovated for the Ivorian authorities. Meanwhile the third phase of the demobilisation ex-combatants of the Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles (FAFN) in Bouaké has been completed while the second phase in Kani, near Séguéla (north west) is ongoing.

 

 Military

UNOCI's Deputy Force Commander (DFC), Brigadier General Elhadji Mouhamadou Kandji, on 8 June 2008, visited the Bangladeshi Battalion at Zuenoula and Military Observers in Séguéla during which he was briefed on operational activities. The DFC also visited the Mission's peacekeepers in San Pedro (south) and Daloa (west).

Arms embargo inspections were on 6 June 2008, successfully carried out by UNOCI peacekeepers at the Defence and Security Forces of Cote d'Ivoire's (FDSCI) Gendarmerie Brigades in Ouragahio (south west) and Tiebissou (centre) and at the Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles' (FAFN) Fansara-110 unit in Korhogo (north).

 

Reports of violent clashes between students in Bouaké are being investigated by the Regional Human Rights Office based in the city. Two students were reported to have been seriously injured in such a clash at the "Lycée de Belleville". The dispute was reportedly over attempts by one group of students to set up a branch of the students union FESCI, which operates in Government controlled areas, in opposition to the local students union, known as the "Comité des élèves et étudiants de Bouaké".

The Regional Human Rights Office in Duékoué on 6 June 2008 met with the préfet of Toulepleu, located 150 km from Duékoué (west) to discuss the recent intra-community clashes among members of the Lezobi community. The Office learnt that on the night of 5 June 2008, a family was attacked by unidentified villagers armed with knives, who accused of them of witchcraft and of being the cause of unexplained problems in the village. As a result, the whole family, though not banned from the village, has been banned from working in the village. The Office continues to follow up the case.