The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire and head of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), Mrs Aïchatou Mindaoudou, on Wednesday, 5 August 2015, went to Grabo, a town in the department of Tabou, in the Bas-Sassandra region, situated at 510 km southwest of Abidjan, near the Liberian border, to donate animal husbandry and agricultural equipment to women and youths.

The donation follows a request from the women and youths for financial help for their projects as part of UNOCI's Quick Impact Projects programme, known as QIPs.





After a warm welcom from the Mayor of Grabo, Mr Martin Dougboyou Takouo, the secretary-general of Tabou préfecture, Kofi Kouadio, speaking on behalf of local residents, thanked the Special Representative for her support. For his part, the deputy prefect of Grabo, Traoré Djibril, explaimed the origin of the two projects, which he recalled were part of the recommendations made during intercommunity meetings organised in March and October 2014 in Grabo, following a series of violent and painful incidents which had taken place in the town. « Dear women and youths now you need to do your part because your projects attracted our attention because of their character to promote social cohesion. We believe that these projects will provide women, who are the ones who often look after everyone, to speak to each other, » he told the women.

The head of UNOCI, Mrs Mindaoudou, thanked local authorities, the youths, the women and the whole population for the warm welcom which they had given her and her delegation. « I congratulate you all for the improvement in security in Grabo », she told the gathering. « I would also like to congratulate you for the commitments you made during the intercommunity meetings », she added. She encouraged everyone to continue the implementation of those commitments. « You, the people of Grabo, you have been equipped with the right tools to implement social cohesion. It is to support you and support your commitments with regard to social cohesion that we decided to put these two projects in your hands », said Mrs Aïchatou Mindaoudou.



In conclusion, the Special Representative encouraged the people of Grabo to continue to maintain a peaceful environment in order to ensure that the forthcoming election takes peacefully in their town.



The first project, which costs 10 million francs CFA ( approximately, consists of breeding some 2000 chickens in Grabo by some 100 women from every community living in Grabo. The aim of the project is to help them fight against poverty by making them economically independent.



The second project concerns the the production of two 2 hectares of palm trees for palmoil in Grabo. At a cost of 11,750,000 francs CFA (approximately ), the aim of the project is to provide youths from all communities in Grabo with agricultural kits to farm the palm trees in an effort to promote solidarity and social cohesion by working together on the 2 hectares of land.

During the donation ceremony, the head of UNOCI, the president of the women's group, Mrs Léontine Yoro Zaguehi, promised that the women of Grabo will make good use of the equipment they had received in order to ensure that their project is a success and benefits women in general.



The youth president, Mr Louis Kouya Koupet, also reassured the UNOCI delegation of their commitment. « By successfully implementing this project we will have social cohesion. We will no longer use our strength to follow politicians, we will instead use to work on our farms and today we make our commitment to meet the challenge which the successful implementation of this project represents, he added.



Finally, the president of Bas-Sassandra Regional Council, Mr Donatien Beugré, announced that a donation of 1 million francs CFA (approximately ) will be given to support the monitoring of the two projects.