Abidjan, 19 September 2008

Dear colleagues and friends,

In September 2001, the United Nations General Assembly adopted 21 September as International Day of Peace.

International Day of Peace was celebrated for the first time in 2002. By chance the Day falls three days after the start of the Ivorian conflict. In establishing this Day, the United Nations General Assembly wanted to ensure a day of ceasefire and non violence and urge all nations around the world to stop all hostilities.

In Côte d'Ivoire, International Day of Peace is being celebrated this year under good auspices, thanks to a number of positive developments registered towards the resolution of the crisis, the most recent of which is the launch of the identification and voter registration operation.

Six years after the start of the crisis, definitive peace is now at hand. The progress made so far is due to the contribution of all, especially the Ivorian people and their leaders. I would like to appeal to all parties, especially the former belligerent forces, to continue to maintain the peaceful environment that now exists throughout the country.

On this solemn day, lets work together to ensure peace for the population and thus create the right conditions for their participation in open, free, fair and transparent elections. I would like to end by repeating UNOCI's motto which is "Let's work together. You come out of the crisis; we come out of Côte d'Ivoire".