UNOCI helps rebuild inter-community confidence and trust in Grabo

The Civil Affairs Office of the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) on October 27 2014 embarked on a 3-day confidence- building mission in Grabo and Fetai a locality which came under attack from unidentified assailants in which 4 civilians and 3 soldiers of the Ivorian armed forces were killed on 15 May 2015. Social cohesion in the area was seriously weakened after the attack which bred suspicion among the people.

During the opening of the reconciliation meeting, the Civil Affairs Officer, Doudou Mulaba said the mission was aimed at establishing dialogue that would end with the resolution of the problems identified and also to promote discussion between the different communities with a view to facilitating the return of people who were displaced during the crisis, and restore confidence and peaceful coexistence in the area.

For two days, hearings of aggrieved parties were conducted by UNOCI Civil Affairs office with the support of the Public Information and Human Rights Offices, followed by discussions in working groups which converged into a plenary session on the third day.

The third day of the mission was marked by the presence of the Deputy Special Representative of UN Secretary-General in Cote d'Ivoire Mr. Mbaye Babacar Cisse and the Consul of Burkina Faso, Jean de Dieu Zoundi, a government representative in the person of the Director-General of the Ministry of Solidarity, Amara Coulibaly, and the Director of National Programme for Social Cohesion (PNCS), Professor Mariatou Kone.
The Mayor of Grabo, Martin Dougboyou Takuo welcomed the guests and expressed his condolences to the Burkina Faso Consul whose compatriots suffered a heavy loss during the attack on Feteh.

On his part, the Consul called on his compatriots to respect their hosts as well as their laws and customs in order to have total cohabitation. "Conflicts should not hinder cohabitation. You must do everything to be on good terms with those who are hosting you and have given you their land," he advised.

PNCS Director, Mariatou Kone said she was "happy to note that you have understood that conflict leads to nothing good. The projects you have talked about cannot be concretized without peace."
On his part, Mr. Babacar Cisse recalled the reasons for the 3-day meeting. "We were told there was tension, a wall of mistrust between the communities living in Grabo and that it was necessary for you to meet and discuss in order to overcome your problems with the help of the government and your partners one of which is UNOCI."

A spokesman for the youths, Paterne Konan expressed hope in the prospects for cohabitation among the different communities. "We are now committed to begin holding inter-community meetings in order to bring everybody up to date so we can avoid being manipulated by politicians. By the way, we are calling on government to reinforce security measures along the border," he concluded.