Highlights

-SRSG Choi meets with Ivorian President
-ONUCI - FM broadcast special programmes to mark first anniversary of OPA
-UNOCI receives reports of militia demonstration in Blolequin

Political

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Cote d'Ivoire, Y.J.Choi met President Laurent Gbagbo today to review the progress made so far in the implementation of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement (OPA), which was signed one year ago today in the Burkinabe capital. He was accompanied by Raisedon Zenenga, Chief of the Africa Division of DPKO and Hervé Lecoq, Desk Officer in Charge of Cote d'Ivoire

ONUCI FM

To mark the first anniversary of the signing of the OPA, ONUCI-FM, today broadcast a series of programmes and news reports on the electoral process, DDR, redeployment of the administration in the west, north and central regions as well as regional reports on the progress made so far and the challenges that remain. The radio also carried interviews with Ivorian and international political analysts, as well as vox pops on the OPA.

Security

Sector West Regional Security Office in Daloa this morning reported that it had received information that local militias who demonstrated in the western town of Blolequin last week will again be setting up road blocks in the centre of town in protest at the non-payment of their dues. BENINBATT has been tasked to closely monitor the situation, while UNOCI staff have been told to avoid the area until further notice.

The Tripartite meeting between the Forces Nouvelles (FN), Licorne and UNOCI held yesterday in Séguéla (north-west) discussed cases of extortion by the FN soldiers as well as the prolonged occupation by former rebels of the teachers' homes in Vrouo 2 village.

Arms Embargo

A team of Military Observers and UNPOL from Duékoué accompanied by MORBATT yesterday soldiers yesterday conducted an arms embargo inspection at the Ivorian National Armed Forces (FANCI) Unit in Dibobli. A similar inspection was carried out at the Gendarmerie checkpoints around Gagnoa (centre-west).

Civil Affairs

The Civil Affairs Office yesterday held a meeting with the Secretary General of the Direction Général de l'Education National (DREN) on the ongoing demonstrations by school children in Bouaké. The Office was informed that the school children were unhappy about the fact that teachers and support staff have not yet been fully redeployed. The situation is further complicated by the non-payment of volunteer teachers and the lack of funds to finance the rehabilitation of educational facilities. The striking pupils were joined by university students who were apparently incited by the FESCI, a militant student union organization.

Human Rights

In order to monitor the prevailing situation generated by the recent inter-community clashes between farmers and cattle breeders, the Regional Human Rights Office in Odienné yesterday conducted a field mission to Kotouba village (located 10 km north of Odienné). The Office discovered that FN soldiers had been forcibly collecting money (between $28 and $93) from farmers and cattle breeders when settling their disputes.

In Oumé, (60 km south west of Yamoussoukro), 33 members of Human Rights Clubs attended a one-day workshop on the basic techniques on human rights education organized by the Human Rights Office in Yamoussoukro. The focus of the training was the international and national human rights protection mechanisms as well as strategies to promote fundamental rights.