Abidjan, 10 September 2009... The Principal Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Côte d'Ivoire, Abou Moussa, signed, on Thursday 10 September 2009, an agreement under which the National Council for Audiovisual Communication (CNCA) has awarded the 96 MHz frequency to the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI).

"This is the result of long work and of the will of the CNCA to support the United Nations' activities in Côte d'Ivoire," Mr. Moussa said after the ceremony, which took place at the CNCA headquarters. He welcomed the perfect collaboration that has existed for almost four years now, between the Ivorian regulatory organ and the UN mission, which has resulted in the definitive award of the frequency to UNOCI.

Mr. Moussa recalled the place of ONUCI FM radio in the broadcasting scene in Côte d'Ivoire, and especially, its role in supporting the peace process. He cited as an example the fact that, "during the mobile court hearings, the radio produced and broadcasted more than 400 sensitization spots in French and in five Ivorian languages".

"Within the framework of identification, special programmes enabled populations to understand the stakes and, especially, to go to the registration centres," Mr. Moussa continued. The Deputy Special Representative repeated UNOCI FM's commitment to persevere along the path of effort and professionalism, especially in this electoral period, in order to live up to the expectations of the population of Côte d'Ivoire in a professional manner.

"UNOCI has an important mission which should be taken into account," said the Secretary-General of the CNCA, Felix Nanihio. He welcomed the finalization of the award which, he said, would now enable his organ and the UN mission to work efficiently together.

ONUCI FM has been broadcasting since 2004 on the 96 Khz frequency, which it had borrowed to air its programmes in and around Côte d'Ivoire's administrative capital. It has a network of 25 stations located throughout the country. Toulepleu is the latest station to transmit ONUCI FM's signal on 93.7 MHz.