The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Mrs Aïchatou Mindaoudou, on Wednesday, 24 February 2016, held discussions with the new Minister for the Promotion of Women, the Family, and Child Protection, Mrs Euphrasie Kouassi Yao.



Speaking at the end of the encounter, the Minister said that she and the head of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), had discussed the ways and means of reducing inequality between men and women.



« We know that despite everything that the President has done to promote women, there are still challenges to overcome. We discussed how best to tackle these challenges and Mrs Mindaoudou assured us that this issue is part of UNOCI's mandate and that the Mission is ready to accompany us and we welcome this, » she said.



The Special Representative, for her part, explained that her visit was a courtesy call to congratulate Minister Kouassi Yao on her nomination as the head of the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, the Family and Child Protection. She also reaffirmed UNOCI's willingness to work closely with the Ministry in the implementation of its mission.



« Since women's rights are human rights, I came to discuss with the Minister, the best ways and means of continuing the collaboration which already exists between our two institutions. In UNOCI we are going to see how we can better accompany her so that women's concerns are taken into account even more, » said Mrs Mindaoudou.