Abengourou, 28 September 2009... The Regional Human Rights Office in Bondoukou of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) on Friday 25 September in Abengourou, organized a training workshop for members of the Federation of women's movement in Abengourou (FEMFECA) on the topic: Human rights and the protection of women against violence.

The objective of the seminar, which was part of the follow-up to recommendations made at UNOCI's forum held in Abengourou on 9 April 2008, was to allow members of women's associations in Abengourou to become actively involved in the protection and promotion of women's rights, on one hand, and in the fight against violence against women on the other. The seminar was also aimed at contributing to building capacity among FEMFECA members in the fields of human rights and protecting women against gender-based violence.

The acting focal point of UNOCI in Abengourou, Emmanuel Correia, expressed the Mission's gratitude towards authorities of Abengourou for their continued support to its role in accompanying the peace process in Côte d'Ivoire. Mr. Correia invited 60 participants to take an active part in exchanges in order to faithfully impart the knowledge they have acquired to members of other organizations and associations who did not have the opportunity to participate in the training.

The third deputy mayor of Abengourou, Marguerite Tanoh, welcomed UNOCI's initiative, which she described as "an important step in the general search of solutions to the disturbing problem of violence against women". Mrs. Tanoh regretted the fact that women are and continue to be victims of various forms of violence in the home as well as in the work place. She called on political, administrative, religious and traditional authorities, opinion leaders, partners in development and international organizations to combine their efforts in order to develop a system of protection for women against violence.

The Secretary General of the prefecture, Mr. Samuel Seri Gbaza, who opened the training workshop, underlined that the problem of the protection of women against all violation of their rights due to the facts and realities of her everyday life which demonstrate that women are often victims of violence, which often cause her serious physical, social and psychological damage.

Mr. Gbaza expressed the hope that the practice and protection of all the rights and fundamental liberties of a human being would also be guaranteed for women equally as for men in every domain, before thanking UNOCI on behalf of the prefect of the region for having organized the training as part of its activities on the promotion of human rights.