Highlights

-UNOCI's Officer in charge due to meet Ivorian President
-Mobile Court hearings in San Pedro area postponed due to bad road conditions
-BANBATT Commander inaugurates French language school in Zouan Hounien
-Bouake residents protest over lack of electricity

Political

UNOCI's Officer-in-Charge, Abou Moussa is due to meet with Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo today to exchange views with him about the latest developments of the implementation of the Ouagadougou political Agreement. In this regard, the main stakeholders of the Ivorian peace process are scheduled to meet tomorrow in the Burkinabe capital to assess the progress made so far and probably mend fences.
UNOCI's Officer-in-Charge, Abou Moussa today met with Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo.

Mobile Courts

The Mobile Court hearing which was scheduled to take place in Saint Dominique village in the San Pedro area was held in nearby Doba village instead because bad road conditions prevented the Mobile Court team from reaching the village.

Arms embargo

Arms Embargo Inspections were yesterday conducted at the Ivorian National Armed Forces camp (FANCI) in Bondoukou, the Forces Nouvelles camp in Lareraba in the Ferkessdougou area, the Defence and Security Forces of Cote d'Ivoire (FDSCI) in Gagnoa and the Forces Nouvelles Unit in Diarabana. On the same day Military Observers accompanied by UNPOL and escorted by BANBATT also conducted a similar inspection at the Gendarmerie Unit in Zouan Hounien.

Military

Joint patrols were yesterday conducted by JORBATT and Licorne in the Marcory, in Abidjan and by MORBATT and UNPOL in Bouaké.

PAKBATT troops based in Duékoué yesterday received signals and first aid training as well as a lecture on child protection.

Humanitarian

The Commanding Officer of BANBATT based in Man in western Cote d'Ivoire yesterday paid an operational visit to his troops' Zouan Hounien camp during which he inaugurated a French language preparatory school for the local children, which will be organised by the Bangladeshi troops. The aim of the school is to prepare local children before they attend formal school. The Commanding Officer distributed books and other stationery among the children. The ceremony was attended by the Mayor of Zouan Hounien, Licorne officers, village chiefs and other local dignitaries.

Human Rights

On 7 November, the Regional Human Rights Office in Abidjan followed up the case of a 15 year old boy who was shot dead during a violent clash between taxi drivers and members of the Centre de Commandemment des Opérations de Sécurité (CECOS) over racketeering on 11 July 2007.The victim's family wrote a letter dated 25 October requesting the Office's assistance to expedite the criminal investigation still pending. As a result of the Office's intervention, the Military Tribunal and Director of the Protection and Impunity of the Minister of Justice and Human Rights agreed to meet the victim's family. The human rights NGOs, the Ligue Ivoirienne des Droits de l'Homme (LIDHO) and the Mouvement Ivoirien des Droits Humains (MIDH) have both agreed to provide legal assistance to the victim's family.

On 7 November, the Regional Human Rights Office in Duékoué had a working session with Lieutenant Koné Ibrahim, Commander of the Bangolo Mixed Brigade to discuss the prevailing security situation that has a negative impact on the right to security in the Sous-Préfecture of Zou (located 120 km from Duekoué). Several attacks against the civilian population by road bandits have been reported. [Comments: The security situation is likely to jeopardize the voluntary return of IDPs in the region]

On 6 November, the Association Nationale d'Aide à l'Enfance en Danger (ANAED) discussed with the Regional Human Rights Office in Korhogo ways to address the issue of street children, including the "talibé". The association indicated that the "talibé" children coming from Mali, Burkina-Faso and other northern cities of Côte d'Ivoire were given to the spiritual leaders in the Muslim faith who tutored them in the teaching of the Quoran. These "talibé" children continue to be victims of exploitation because they are sent to beg on streets in Korhogo. [Comments: To address the issue, ANAED with the support of Save the Children Sweden and UNICEF has established 22 "Comités de Protection de l'Enfance" (CPE) in Ferkéssedougou and Korhogo in order to sensitize the local population on the rights of the child.]

On 6 November, the Regional Human Rights Office in Korhogo conducted a human rights training session for 10 catholic priests working in Bureau diocésain de la promotion humaine (BDPH) in Korhogo. The aim of the training was to provide them with a basic knowledge of international human rights norms and mechanisms and to reinforce the human rights capacity of the "bureau".

Civil Affairs

On 7 November the Civil Affairs Office in Korhogo met the officer-in-charge of the Agence Nationale du Développement Rural (ANADER) based in the town and learnt that the agency has redeployed 100 rural development staff so far. Another meeting is scheduled for 9 November to map out modalities of collaboration with respect to demands for QIPs support by associations who later will need the services of ANADER. On the same day, the Office in Korhogo also assisted the local representative of the National Committee for Redeployment in identifying a government agency that would accept to temporarily provide the Sous-Préfecture of Korhogo with basic furniture.

On 7 November, the Civil Affairs Office in San Pedro participated in the launch of regional phase of UNOCI's Schools Caravan - an information and sensitisation session to inform school children about the Mission's mandate with respect to social cohesion on the theme: "Youth and Social Cohesion in Bas Sassandra". About 1000 students from 19 schools in San Pedro attend the ceremony.

Miscellaneous

An estimated 200 to 600 residents from the Dar es Salaam area of Bouaké this morning demonstrated outside the offices of the Ivorian electricity company (CEI) in protest against the lack of electricity and water. They are angry because the company wants to install pay-as-you-use meters in their homes for electricity.

UNICEF and UNDP this morning launched their 2007-2008 back to school campaign in Bouaké. They will be distributing 127,000 school kits in the region. UNOCI provided assistance by transporting the kits from the warehouse to the education department premises (DREN) in Bouaké. The campaign will target girls from age six to 11.