The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Mrs Aïchatou Mindaoudou, on Tuesday, 21 April 2015, appealed to people in Blolequin in the west of the country to forgive each other for the sake of reconciliation and social cohesion.



Mrs Mindaoudou was in the town to take part in a roundtable discussion with traditional and community leaders, representatives of local government, women and youth groups. The aim was to discuss and reflect on the challenges of establishing social cohesion in their department. Some 250 participants from 28 villages in the department of Blolequin participated in the two-day workshop to find to problems linked to cohabitation and rural land ownership which persist in the area.



« Reconciliation has not failed in your department because you are sitting together and talking to each other. You have found the problems which prevent social cohesion and you have made recommendations and commitments to resolve those problems, » said the Head of UNOCI. « You know the problems and and even how to resolve them. It just remains for the Government and the partners like us to accompany you step by step in your desire to live together in peace always, » she said.

With regard to the numerous problems that undermine social cohesion, the four groups identified difficult cohabitation between communities, the illegal occupation of classified forests, the multiple illegal selling of land in classified forests, problems linked to mass immigration, issues linked to traditional chiefs, gender-based violence, lack of respect for traditional customs and ignorance of laws governing rural land ownership.



The four groups of participants recommended the organisation of mass sensitisation sessions on all the issues raised, ensuring the involvement of women, youths and communities in decision-making, working in close collaboration with traditional chief to reinforce communication by installing a local radio station.



« It would be good to see which of these recommendations can be implemented in the short term, medium term and long term because lets be realistic everything cannot be done at the same time, » said Mrs Mindaoudou who took the opportunity to congratulate local government authorities and and other members of the local administration for their efforts in helping to strengthen social cohesion and promote lasting peace.



She also thanked village chiefs and community leaders for their commitment to promote social cohesion and reminded them of their crucial role in this regard. « We are counting on you to help in the implementation of all these resolutions because you should be able to rise above all the confusion to implement the decisions taken and gather your people around you and around the values which characterise village in order to re-establish lasting peace». She appealed to the different communities who have settled in Blolequin to trust the legal system. » It is only the law that can protect us and please do not take the law into your own hands.



For his part, the Prefect of the Department, Mr. Kouakou Yao Dinard, he told participants : « This is the first stage of the commitment that you have made to try to work together in order to allow social cohesion to take hold,ce à la cohésion". He thanked the Special Representative for her support for reconciliation », adding that in return, participants will cultivate union and peaceful cohabitation.