« I would like to reiterate my willingness and that of UNOCI to support the efforts of the Government and the ADDR in the implementation of the DDR programme in Côte d'Ivoire, which will lead to elections in 2015, » declared the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Mrs Aïchatou Mindaoudou. Mrs Mindaoudou was speaking at the opening ceremony of an international seminar on 4 November 2014 in Abidjan, organised to share Côte d'Ivoire' s experience in the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants.



The seminar, which is being held from 4 to 6 November in Abidjan and Bouaké is jointly organised by the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). During the three-day meeting, some 100 participants, including national and international experts, as well as technical and financial partners, will share their experiences on the DDR process, as well as discuss the challenges and perspectives of the process in Côte d'Ivoire beyond 30 June 2015, when it is scheduled to end.



While highlighting the kind of assistance that UNOCI provides to the Ivorian Government in accordance with the different UN Security Council resolutions dating from October 2013, the Special Representative also outlined UNOCI's support to the DDR process in Côte d'Ivoire.

Mrs Mindaoudou said that the UN Mission had rehabilitated three DDR sites in Anyama in Abidjan district, Bouaké and Guiglo in the west, which were in turn handed over to the Ivorian Authority for DDR (ADDR). She added that the Mission had contributed to the training of ex-combatants and to the payment of their allowances. Some 565 fixed or mobile operations involving 18,163 ex-combatants, including 1,250 women were carried out with UNOCI's assistance. During these operations 1,556 arms and 549,537 ammunition, including grenades, were collected. With regard to the reinsertion of ex-combatants, the Chief of UNOCI said that 79 projects are currently being carried out to benefit some 1,428 ex-combatants and youths from host communities at a cost of $2 million.



After outlining the efforts that have been deployed in the DDR process in Côte d'Ivoire, the Special Representative asked technical and financial partners, as well as the private sector to ensure the disarmament, demobilisation and reinsertion or reintegration of ex-combatants who have not yet gone through the process, in the next eight months.



For his part, the Director of ADDR, Mr. Fidèle Sarassoro explained the framework within which the seminar was being held. He said it was an occasion for his organisation and its partners to assess the DDR process so far, learn lessons from the Ivorian experience and look to the future, two years after it started in the country as part of the Reform of the Security Sector. He highlighted the importance of sharing Côte d'Ivoire's DDR experience with delegations from other countries attending the seminar.



The Minister in the President's Office, in charge of Defence, Mr. Paul Koffi Koffi who chaired the opening ceremony of the seminar, focused on "DDR and the security context in Côte d'Ivoire". Mr Koffi Koffi outlined the evolution of the Ivorian DDR process since 2003. He also pointed out that the security and development environment had improved in Côte d'Ivoire and that security index of the country had been judged satisfactory.