The Deputy Special Representative of UN Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire and Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Mbaye Babacar Cisse, on Monday, 20 January 2014, travelled to Guiglo, 532 km north-west of Abidjan on his first field visit since taking office.



"My visit was to make contact since taking up my new post with the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) and as head of the agencies of the UN System. I am also here to prepare the forthcoming visit of Aichatou Mindaoudou, the Special Representative and head of UNOCI," he explained.



The Coordinator of the UN System who held a working session with members of the local government in Guiglo, said that Mrs. Mindaoudou's visit would seek to identify the expectations of the population and the local administration with regard to how best the UN System can assist in the economic reconstruction of the area and the rehabilitation of ex-combatants.



The Prefect of Guiglo division and Cavally Region, Messambe Kone said he was ready to put everything in order for the success of the forthcoming visit of the Special Representative. "We have an idea of what is expected of us. We also note that the security situation has clearly improved in Guiglo since the last visit of Mrs. Mindaoudou," he added.



The delegation of the UN Coordinator later travelled to Zouan-Nedrou village, 7 km from Guiglo, where they visited a magazine for the storage of fresh food products with a capacity of 30 tons that had been donated by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to the women of the area.



Mr. Cisse also visited a disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) camp sheltering some 288 demobilised ex-combatants who are undergoing training on the recycling of plastics.