UNOCI trains traditional and community leaders in Ogoudou on techniques of prevention and peaceful management of conflicts

Leaders from 15 villages and different communities in the Ogoudou sous-préfecture, situated at 25 km east of Divo (189 km north of Abidjan), on Wednesday, 5 November 2014 took part in a capacity-building workshop initiated by the Civil Affairs Regional Office of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) based in Divo.

The aim of the workshop was teach participants, including leaders of youth and women's associations, techniques on maintaining social cohesion. An initiative described as opportune considering the number of ongoing land and community conflicts in the sous-préfecture. The theme of the workshop which was presided over by the sous-prefect of Ogoudou, Constant Loan was "Techniques on prevention and peaceful management of conflicts".

Speaking during the encounter, Tanoh Eba Kouakou from UNOCI's Civil Affairs Section asked participants involved in conflict prevention to ensure that they speak to the concerned parties in order to understand the causes of the conflicts before taking actions to put an end to them. "This means you have to listen carefully, talk to the parties, negotiate and mediate between them," she explained.

Addressing community leaders, the Regional Human Rights Officer, Etienne Allou Koffi, stressed the need to maintain peace through forgiveness and by avoiding acts of revenge. He also urged them to use legal means to settle their differences.