Daloa : Final stage of United Nations high-level Mission led by Special Representative to the west of Côte d’Ivoire

The United Nations high-level mission led by the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Mrs Aïchatou Mindaoudou ended on Thursday, 27 February 2014, with a working visit in the west of the country where she and her delegation visited Man, Duékoué, Guiglo, Tabou, San Pedro and Daloa.

In the Bas-Sassandra region, the final stage of the five-day mission to the west of the country, the head of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) and the high-level delegation composed of representatives of United Nations agencies and the World Bank held discussions with different sections of the population in an effort to find out the best approach wit regard to accompanying Ivorians and their local authorities.

In Daloa, the delegation held fruitful discussions with different components of society in the presence of the Minister for Water and Forests, Mr. Mathieu Babaud Darret, the deputy prefects and Prefect of the Region. «All the stakeholders here in Daloa perfectly aware of all the challenges they have to overcome», said the chief of UNOCI at the end of a meeting with the Platform for the Great West.

Members of the Platform for the Great West, which is composed local elected officials, local government officials, representatives of political parties and civil society, gave a detailed outline of the major concerns in the area which included relations with the Dozos, youth unemployment, elections, land issues and security problems etc. Participants at the meeting expressed their willingness to strengthen social cohesion and peace in the region.

The Special Representative recalled UNOCI mandate. « We are here to accompany Ivorian authorities in two ways: We have a role to advise the Ivorian authorities and advocate with them on issues linked to national reconciliation and development. The second aspect is that the United Nations agencies sometimes have their own programme which allows them to intervene directly with the community,», explained Mrs Mindaoudou.

Regarding what she had noticed during the visit, the Special Representative said that « in all the localities that we visited and after all the discussions we had with the different actors, most of their expectations concerned the consolidation of the national reconciliation and social cohesion, youth unemployment, the fight to end gender-based violence, acceleration of the implementation of the DDR process, land issues, occupation of classified forests, food security, the rehabilitation of administrative buildings, the return of refugees and issues linked to civil status ».

During the delegation's visit in Daloa, the head of UNOCI donated a grinding machine and rice mill to a group of vulnerable women in the city. Financed by the United Nations Population Fund, the aim of the project is to support the financial independence of members of the group known as Jeunes Filles Vulnérables Réinsérées de Daloa.

It also visited a project for young people at risk which encourages them to carry out income-generating activities. This project is financed by the World Bank and implemented by the Programme for Post-conflict Assistance. Through the programme the youths learn poultry farming, carpentry and cabinetmaking. The youths displayed some of their work and discussed financial support to open their own workshops with representatives of UN agencies and the head of UNOCI.

The delegation also held a working session with the local Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Daloa before leaving for Abidjan.