United Nations Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman holds discussions with President Alassane Ouattara

A United Nations delegation composed of the Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Mr. Jeffrey Feltman, the Special Representative for West Africa, Mr. Saïd Djinnit and the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Mrs Aïchatou Mindaoudou, met with the Ivorian head of state, Mr. Alassane Ouattara today in Abidjan.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, Mr. Feltman told journalists he had warm greetings of the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon to the Ivorian President. "I thanked him and expressed our appreciation to President Ouattara for the work he had done when he was president of the Economic Community of West African States during the past two years," said Mr. Feltman. In this regard, the Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs welcomed the fruitful exchanges and cooperation between the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on a number of issues linked to peace and security.

"I also passed on the UN Secretary-General's encouragement to the President regarding the efforts being undertaken to promote reconciliation and political dialogue," said Mr. Feltman, adding that he also expressed the UN's appreciation for the economic achievement and economic integration in Côte d'Ivoire. "I reiterated the support of the UN Secretary-General for all the initiatives taken at the national level as well as in ECOWAS," concluded the Under Secretary-General.

The delegation led by Mr. Feltman is on a four-day visit to West Africa (Senegal, Mauritania, Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau), to hold discussions with high-level officials in these countries on peace and security issues in the sub-region.