« We want to live in a safe environment without violence ! » That was the plea made by children who met Father Christmas on 23 December 2013 at a party organised by the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) at its headquarters in Abidjan. It was the eighth edition of the UN Mission's annual Christmas party for underprivileged children which was attended by 200 of them aged between 5 and 12. This year's theme was «A safe environment for lasting peace ».



The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Mrs Aïchatou Mindaoudou accompanied her little guests who welcomed Father Christmas with joy and impatience.



The Special Representative, Father Christmas, UNOCI staff and members of NGOs who attended the ceremony were entertained with poems, messages of peace and hope and short sketches on the importance of keeping the environment clean, performed by the children.



In her message to the children Mrs Mindaoudou told them : « Christmas is for you and I encourage all of you to work hard in school so you can have good results because we are looking to you to build your country. You are our hope for tomorrow and UNOCI is counting on you ». She then asked her young guests to become UNOCI's ambassadors.



Finally the moment that the children had been waiting for arrived to cries of joy, as Father Christmas handed out presents to them. This was followed by lots of fun and games on a bouncy castle hired specially for the occasion.



Speaking on behalf of the organisers Mrs Marie-Irène Richmond, Public Information Officer with the Outreach Unit of UNOCI's Public Information Office told participants at the ceremony : « We were able to organise this Christmas Party thanks to the generousity of UNOCI staff, the Mission's Staff Welfare Committee, the HIV/AIDS Section, the UN Volunteer Unit and the Child Protection Section in collaboration with NGOs in charge of underprivileged children».