Women have always had a strong presence in activities organised by the United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) to promote peace in the Zanzan region in the east of the country.



Determined not to play a secondary role, these women have shown increasing involvement in the organisation of initiatives to promote the consolidation of peace in their region in particular, and in Côté d'Ivoire in general. During the various discussions and sensitisation sessions organised by UNOCI, women in the region have turned up in greater numbers to ensure their voices are heard, since they, along with their children, were the ones who were disproportionately affected by the Ivorian crisis.



For the women of Zanzan, each activity was an opportunity to promote their message of peace and reconciliation. Their determination was particularly highlighted in August 2013 in Sandégué, situated at 438 km northeast of Abidjan, during a sensitisation session organised by the Public Information Office of UNOCI.



Speaking about the violence in Sandégué during the municipals elections, which resulted in several people being seriously injured, the president of the local women's association, Mariam Ouattara, expressed deep regret over the incidents which she described as unacceptable. She appealed to local youths to avoid such incidents in the future, while praising local authorities for their courage in intervening during the violent incidents to separate youths from opposing sides of the political divide. The youths, supporters of candidates from different political parties were fighting each other with clubs and machetes. « We hope that this sort of thing will not happen again and that these youths will listen to the advice of their parents and the administrative and traditional authorities », she concluded.



A workshop on inter-community dialogue organised by the UN Mission in August 2013 in Bouna, situated some 600 km northeast of Abidjan, was yet another occasion for women in Bounkani to reaffirm their determination to work side by side with their brothers to contribute to the search for lasting peace in Côte d'Ivoire.

At the end of the workshop organised by UNOCI's Civil Affairs Section, as part of the new resolutions made by the people of Bouna to promote social cohesion and development in their region, the women made a commitment to pursue their efforts to strengthen social cohesion by promoting respect for ethnic diversity and culture. They also took a decision to create a framework for regular inter-community discussions and to use inter-ethnic alliances as a way of resolving conflicts and to intensify their fight against female genital mutilation and all forms of gender-based vilolence, especially against girls.

Focusing their objective on development, the women of Bouna asked local officials to stop dividing people in the region because their political ambitions and to instead encourage and support them in creating centres for apprenticeship and income-generating activities for youths and women.

Addressing the youths, they urged them to play an impartial role as agents of development.



Desire Ndagijimana