Kong town elites discuss farmer-grazer problem with UNOCI

The grassroots mobile sensitization team of the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) known as ONUCI-Tour visited Kong town, 500 km north-east of Abidjan, on 15 October 2014 to discuss issues affecting the social cohesion of the different communities.

The head of the UNOCI delegation, Marta Romero of the Civil Affairs division explained the various activities of the UN Mission regarding social cohesion and national reconciliation and called on the community leaders to work for the promotion of peaceful coexistence among the communities.

A senior official of the Prefecture of Kong, Sory Sangare welcomed UNOCI's initiative which, he said, contributes to the strengthening of national unity-- a guarantee for sustainable development. "The Ivorian authorities are in need of assistance from all their partners including UNOCI to carry out activities aimed at rallying and reconciling the sons and daughters of the country who must help each other and forgive one another," he said.

The issue of gender-based violence (GBV) including forced marriages and female genital mutilation was discussed through the projection of slides and a question and answer session during which the leaders were told to report cases of violence to the authorities. The issue of farmer-grazer conflicts was also raised with Dabla Toure of Civil Affairs telling the people that the problem can only be solved peacefully by respecting Ivorian laws.

The representative of UN Police, Colonel Rene Bonang reiterated UNOCI's mandate to protect civilians and called on the citizens to collaborate with the forces of law and order.

Bakayoko Bakary of the Public Information Office spoke on the promotion of the culture of peace and called on the people to exercise tolerance during elections billed for 2015.

The elites condemned the poor relations between certain communities and the military and in response to this concern, UNOCI, through its Civil Affairs section, plan to organize a special inter-community activity next January in the historical town of Kong.