The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) has provided multifacetted support for the legislative election now under way in Côte d'Ivoire. To further manifest its support for the polls, visits to polling stations in Abidjan and in the hinterland have been organised, involving the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire and head of the mission, who is also the certifier of the polls, both deputy special representatives, the Special Representative of the Facilitator of the inter-Ivorian dialogue, ambassadors, officials of the UN system, the African Union and other partners. Over 600 UNOCI staff are in the field to monitor the polls.

GAGNOA

The eight-member VIP observer delegation led by the head of UNOCI's administration, Gianni Deliglia, and including Swiss, Japanese and U.S. diplomats, the advisor to the Special Representative of the Facilitator and members of the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), landed at Gagnoa's airstrip at about 10.30 a.m. It visited two polling places: Saint Jean College in the Dar es Salam neighbourhood, which has four polling stations, and the Groupe Scolaire Chateau, a school in the Chateau neighbourhood, with 11 polling stations. After the mission, the head of delegation gave his assessment of the conduct of the election in the voting areas visited. "The poll was evidently calm, no incident was reported to us," he said. The delegation then left for Soubré, the second stage of its mission.

FERKESSEDOUGOU

A delegation of international observers led by Marguerite Roy, Director of UNOCI's Political Affairs Division, and including the Representative of the Facilitator, Bouréima Badini, visited polling places in the commune of Ferkessedougou, namely the Lycée Moderne de Ferkessédougou and the Ecole Primaire Publique de Lanviara, to monitor the conduct of the polls in the northern town. Mrs Roy said the vote was generally going well there. "All the electoral material is there, representatives of the candidates are there and the security forces are visible, while the discipline of the electors bears witness to the smooth running of the polls," she said. Her delegation, which also included the Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Wayne William Camard, visited four polling stations before leaving for Korhogo and Odienne.


SAN PEDRO

The Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Côte d'Ivoire, N'dolamb Ngokwey, arrived at the San Pedro airport at 9h45 at the head of a strong delegation including representatives of the embassies of Britain, Spain and Switzerland, the International Office for Migration (IOM) UN Environment Programme (UNEP), l'ONUSIDA, USAID and the Office of the Facilitator of the inter-Ivorian dialogue. The delegation was welcomed at the airport by UNOCI staff based in San Pedro. Mr. Awesso Simwaba, regional coordinator of the Electoral Assistance Office in Bas-Sassandra gave each member of the delegation a package of documents containing useful information on the election in his region. The group then went towards the city centre for a visit of two polling stations, the Collège Moderne Gbao and the Centre Culturel de San Pedro. A total of four polling stations (two per polling area) were visited by the delegation. After the introduction of its members by Mr. Awesso, Deputy SRSG N'Dolamb had discussions with members of the polling station and candidates' representatives."You play a very important role in the smooth running of this legislative election," he told them. "We note that everything is going well and, in particular, in calm and respect. We encourage you all for the good work you are doing. We also thank the representatives of the candidates, who are effectively monitoring the polls."

MAN

The plane transporting Mr. N'Gokwey's delegation landed in Man at 11.30. The group visited three polling centres in the Man district: Libreville Primary School, Blon Blaise Secondary and Man Modern Secondary. It was able to hold discussions with the heads of the polling stations on the conduct of the polls and also talked to electors, before leaving at about 13.00 hours for Toulepleu in the Moyen Cavally region.

"What we are noticing is that everything is going calmly for the moment. I would like to encourage everyone to continue in the spirit of calm, Mr. Ngokwey said after visiting the polling stations. "We hope there will be a bigger turnout during the course of the day so that citizens can express their civic right in all freedom, security and transparence." He also noted that representatives of the political parties were present in the polling stations.

DAOUKRO

A delegation led by the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Governance and Politics, Arnaud Akodjenou, and including the Ambassador of Switzerland, the First Counsellor of the Embassy of France and a representative of the Office of the Facilitator, visited four polling areas in the Daoukro district to monitor the conduct of voting there.The delegation, which was welcomed by the local Préfet, later visited 10 polling stations, where it observed an exemplary security situation, with the presence of security forces, polling officers and representatives of the different candidates. However, all noted the low voter turnout, which Mr. Akodjenou mentioned during the debriefing session he chaired before leaving for the next phase of his mission, Bondoukou. Before Daoukro, the delegation had visited polling stations in Yamoussoukro