A delegation of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), visited Tabou, situated 450 km southwest of Abidjan, on Friday, 2 August 2013, to sensitize hundreds of young people on peace and social cohesion. These young people were taking part in a city sanitation operation initiated by a group of local youth associations.



"By taking part on a voluntary basis in this sanitation operation, regardless of your ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, age or gender, you have demonstrated your ability to work together and your membership in the peace and reconciliation process," said the representative of UNOCI's Civil Affairs Section.



According to him, the UN Mission will keep on supporting Ivorians according to its mandate and means. He also asked the members of the local associations to avoid division among themselves.



The secretary-general of the Youth Union of Tabou, Ahi Badisson Gerard, expressed his gratitude to UNOCI. "We wanted to reconcile young people from seventeen villages and districts who had been divided by the electoral crisis. All our local associations responded positively to our invitation. We would like to repeat this type of activity to bring more people together with the support of the United Nations," he said.



It should be noted that in addition to sensitizing the youths, UNOCI also provided transportation and medical assistance.