In an effort to sensitise people in Ouattaradougou, situated some 539 km northwest of Abidjan, on gender-based violence, the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) on 1 April 2014 organised a discussion session with them.



UNOCI's Police component (UNPOL), Human Rights, Civil Affairs, Child Protection and Public Information sections, accompanied by the National Gendarmerie, the Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Social Centre and the NGO Bonne Action urged people in Ouattaradougou to respect human rights. "Rape and early marriage are practices which were tolerated in olden times. Now there are laws in Côte d'Ivoire which condemn these degrading practices," said Felix Manzin of the Social Centre.



Joseph Digbeu of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and Clement Dago of UNOCI's Child Protection Section stressed that gender-based violence must be stopped. "We urge you to denounce gender-based violence in your village because rape is a recurrent crime here. Protecting the authors of such crime because of inter-community alliances is also unacceptable," he added.

Keeping silent in the face of an apparent rape case represents a lack of assistance to a person in danger," warned UNPOL Abdouraoufou Dermane.

For his part, Mohamed Sidien of UNOCI's Human Rights Division stressed the need for women to be protected. "A woman is the mother of the universe, in this regard, we must ensure that she is protected. Inter-community alliances cannot be used as a reason to promote impunity. Keep your alliances while respecting the law," he told people.

"People who do not respect the law like those who carry out gender-based violence are jeopardising social cohesion. The people who live together in a village can still be united even when they are different. They live together while respecting the laws of the land," insisted Jean Emile Vincent Nkiranuye of UNOCI's Civil Affairs Section.



According to the representative of the NGO Bonne Action, Jonas Siekpo, people should initiate dialogue, talk to each other constantly when faced with differences in order to ensure that reconciliation and cohesion remain. Echoing the same sentiments, Eugène Bohé of the Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission explained that truth precedes reconciliation. It is important to be sincere, he said, order to talk about forgiveness and then reconciliation. He urged people to turn their backs on political scheming and go about their daily business.

On the issue os land conflicts and the means to resolve them, Koffi Teya of the Ministry of Agriculture said that Ivorian law recommends that land owners ensure that the obtain the necessary documents which show they own the land, as a way of guaranteeing social cohesion.

The village chief of Ouattaradougou, Bakary Ouattara, promised to more professionalism in resolving conflicts in his locality, before making a plea to local authorities to ensure that the route to his village is made passable and that electricity is installed there.