The Universal Children's Day was commemorated in the far western town of Toulepleu, 650 km from Abidjan on Thursday 20 November 2014 with a round-table conference on the fight against early pregnancy in school.

Pupils, teachers, local administrative and traditional authorities and members of the security forces gathered at the Lycee Moderne of Toulepleu to reflect and find solutions to the problems related to gender-based violence especially early pregnancies in school, the culture of peace and ridding the school environment of all forms of violence.



Speaking at the conference organized and conducted by the Human Rights division of the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI), Clement Dago of the UN said the occasion was being held within the framework of support to the Ivorian government's policy of protection and respect of the rights of children. He said it was aimed at identifying focal points charged with spreading information on how to prevent early pregnancy in school and to get the commitment of parents, village chiefs and community leaders to protect children and engage in the fight against this phenomenon.

On behalf of the UNOCI delegation, Edouard Munyeshuli thanked the teaching staff, pupils and local authorities for the massive mobilization of the community to celebrate Universal Children's Day.

The Principal of the Lycee, Bremi Ago said he was satisfied with the UNOCI initiative and the choice of his school to host the event. He expressed the willingness of his staff to work with UNOCI to ensure the protection of children and put a stop to the phenomenon of early pregnancies in school.