As part of the Project to Assist and Improve Access to Legal Rights and Justice in Côte d'Ivoire, the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), in partnership with the Association of Women Lawyers of Côte d'Ivoire, organized a training session on human rights on Tuesday, 30 July 2013, at the main prison in Korhogo, situated 588 km north of Abidjan.



The aim of the training session, according to the director of the Legal Clinic in Korhogo, Nardjeyougo Sekongo, was to strengthen the capacity of agents of the prison administration with regard to their obligations towards those who use the legal and judicial services.



According to the registrar of the prison, Souleymane Bakayoko, the training session would provide agents with the opportunity to fully understand human rights issues related to their professional relationships with detainees.



« While carrying out our duties, we must treat detainees with a lot of dignity as stipulated in international conventions," he added.



Under the guidance of a representative of UNOCI's Human Rights Division, participants were taught "the definition of human rights", "different types of human rights", "the state's obligations in the promotion and protection of human rights", "the different types of human rights violations in prisons" and "the national, regional and international mechanisms for the protection of human rights".



Funding totalling more than 1.4 billion FCFA, 77% of which was provided by the European Union (EU), and coordinated by UNOCI's Rule of Law Division, has been provided for the Project, which was jointly initiated by UNOCI, the EU, UNICEF, UN Development Programme and AFJCI, and aims to make legal services more accessible to those who need it by strengthening the capacity of vulnerable individuals and groups.



Similar training sessions have also been organized in Boundiali, San Pedro, Guiglo, Man, Bouaké and Bondoukou.