OCHA Situation Report No. 6
Cote d'Ivoire
Period: 5 - 12 March 2003
12 March 2003


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

OVERVIEW

The continuing crisis and resulting virtual standstill of cross-border
commerce is plunging Cote d'Ivoire headlong towards a full-blown
humanitarian crisis. Joblessness is rising, and consumer purchasing power
is falling.  WFP reports that food supplies are quickly dwindling for
families hosting IDPs and epidemic alerts are becoming more frequent.  
Each week that passes without the re-establishment of free circulation,
trade and public services, including health and education, will lengthen
the period of time necessary to rehabilitate the country.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is suffering a
crippling lack of funding for urgent aid, including safe and dignified
repatriation and protection, to third country nationals caught in the
conflict both within Cote d'Ivoire and those transiting through
neighboring countries such as Liberia.


POLITICAL / MILITARY CONTEXT

National

All signatories of the Marcoussis peace accord met in Accra from Thursday
6 March through Saturday 8 March under the chairmanship of Ghanian
President and ECOWAS Presidency holder John Kufuor. The meeting resulted
in the formation of a National Security Council for Cote d'Ivoire,
consisting of 15 members representing each of the signatory groups of the
Marcoussis accord, as well as the army, the gendarmerie, the police,
President Laurent Gbagbo and consensus Prime Minister Seydou Diarra. On
Monday 10 March Seydou Diarra officially took over as prime minister from
Pascal Affi N'Guessan with the reported signing of a six-month renewable
decree by President Gbagbo.

The make-up of the National Reconciliation Government is expected to be
announced on Thursday 13 March in the administrative capital,
Yamoussoukro. Priority tasks of the new government, once established, will
include the re-establishment of State authority throughout the country,
the disarmament of rebel groups and the drafting of a naturalization law.

During the Accra meetings, West African army chiefs called for an increase
in the size of the "ECOFORCE" from 1,264 to 3,411, and asked that member
countries contribute some 300 security personnel to protect members of the
new reconciliation government.  More than 3,000 French troops are
currently providing support to ECOFORCE under a UN Security Council
mandate to monitor and enforce the cease-fire and protect civilians.

Fighting between Government and rebel forces reportedly took place on
Friday 7 March in the western town of Bangolo, between the towns of Man
and Duekoue.  The Government reported at least 60 civilian casualties,
while the Mouvement pour la Justice et la Paix (MJP) [Movement for Justice
and Peace - unofficial translation] rebel group reported 200 civilian
casualties, and eight rebel-casualties.  Government forces deny having
carried out the attack.  Rebels also reportedly attempted to break through
the cease-fire line into Government-controlled territory near the towns of
Duekoue and Guessabo west of Daloa on Saturday 8 March, but were repulsed
by French forces.


Regional

Three humanitarian aid workers from the Adventist Relief and Development
Agency were killed during an attack on Toe Town in eastern Liberia, close
to the border with Cote d'Ivoire, on or soon after 28 February 2003.  UN
Secretary - General Kofi Annan has issued a statement demanding that the
Government of Liberia determine the exact circumstances under which the
incident took place, and bring the perpetrators to justice.  He further
called on all parties in the Liberian conflict to enhance security
measures for humanitarian personnel so that the most vulnerable may
continue to receive aid.  The attack was reportedly carried out by
elements of the LURD rebel group operating out of western Cote d'Ivoire.

The Guinean government repatriated more than 1,500 of its nationals by
boat in an operation that departed from the port of Abidjan and arrived in
Conakry during the reporting period.


HUMANITARIAN SITUATION & RESPONSE

Protection - The Government of Cote d'Ivoire has announced the formation
of Action pour la Protection des Droits de l'Homme (APDH) [Action for the
Protection of Human Rights - unofficial translation], by a group of young
Ivorian lawyers, which will enquire into and report on human rights abuses
committed in the country since 19 September 2002.

In continuing efforts to provide protection for vulnerable refugees in
Cote d'Ivoire, UNHCR has conducted the repatriation by airlift of 23
Sierra Leonean refugees from Abidjan on Tuesday 4 March. The operation was
conducted in close cooperation with IOM Cote d'Ivoire who took charge of
all the logistic aspects of that operation. Some 400 Sierra Leonean
refugees remain in Cote d'Ivoire and UNHCR plans to carry out further
repatriations of those who wish to return to their homeland.  UNHCR also
continues to urge the Ivorian government to find a safe location for some
35,000 Liberian refugees remaining in Cote d'Ivoire. Refugees
International has reported that Liberian refugees in the west are subject
to terror and violence by gangs of "patriotic youth" in western Cote
d'Ivoire.

The above-mentioned "patriotic youth" groups are reportedly taking the law
into their own hands in many areas of Cote d'Ivoire, sometimes harassing
members of the Ivorian security forces themselves.

Access - The highly unstable situation in the west of Cote d'Ivoire
continues to create difficulties in accessing populations in need of
urgent assistance in areas close to the Liberian border, including the
towns of Danane, Toulepleu, Bangolo and Man.  The international
humanitarian aid community is grappling with the logistical issues of
providing aid to vulnerable populations without rendering them the
military targets of armed elements.  Field missions continue assessments
on the ground to identify the modalities for bringing aid to these
suffering populations in the west.

Coordination - The humanitarian aid community is working on a common
strategy to address the urgent needs resulting from the crisis in Cote
d'Ivoire and its effects on the sub-region within the context of the
Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP). All coordination forums in Cote
d'Ivoire and the sub-region are working on a sector-by-sector response to
priority interventions with the input of UN agencies, NGOs, and local
authorities. All UN agencies have deployed CAP experts to Cote d'Ivoire
and the sub-region to assist in and facilitate the process.  
Consultations are also underway with all actors and stakeholders,
including donors, to assure their active participation in the CAP process.  
A common strategy and projects should be ready by the end of March.

UNICEF recently opened a sub-office in the MPCI-held city of Bouake to
better coordinate its activities in health and nutrition, water and
environmental sanitation, basic education and child protection in northern
occupied zones.  WFP and its implementing partners ACF and CARE, as well
as MSF-France, MDM, and AFRICARE are present or have been active in Bouake
since 19 September 2002.

Education - UNICEF recently held talks with the MPCI rebel group, present
in the north of the country, who pledged to protect the rights of children
and women in the areas under their control.  UNICEF Regional Director for
West and Central Africa Ms. Rima Salah stressed to the rebels the need for
full respect of international humanitarian laws, especially those
concerning the neutrality and impartiality of UN assistance to populations
affected by armed conflict.  She also voiced UNICEF's concern about
reports of child combatants among MPCI's fighting ranks.

Food Security - Existing food stocks preserved for the lean period of
March to September are expected not to last through to the next harvest. A
WFP emergency needs assessment shows that those most affected by lack of
food security include IDPs who have not found shelter with host families,
marginal wage earners and newly jobless in urban areas, and commercial
cotton and sugar farmers in the north who depend on market purchases to
earn a living.  They further report that some villages in the central zone
of the country just south of the cease-fire line have IDP populations that
exceed the resident population figure. Loss of employment and rising food
prices are expected to lead to an urban exodus which will cause food
shortages in rural areas of return.

WFP continues to undertake food distribution to Liberian refugees in Nicla
camp outside the town of Guiglo and will verify the needs of reported
large numbers of IDPs in the town of Toulepleu, near the Liberian border,
as soon as the security situation allows.  WFP has also delivered food to
Caritas for distribution to refugees and IDPs in the southwestern coastal
town of Tabou.  WFP continues to monitor IDP populations and emergency
needs throughout the country. UNICEF delivered emergency food and non-food
supplies to Government authorities in Yamoussoukro, and Daloa during the
reporting period.

Health - A representative casualty of the ongoing crisis and partitioning
of the country is the national programme against leprosy, which has
suffered a loss of access to many patients requiring multidrug therapy
throughout the country, including some 650 patients in rebel-held areas.
The total number of leprosy cases in Cote d'Ivoire had been slashed to
under 2,000, from well over 100,000 two decades ago.  Lack of
infrastructure maintenance due to insecurity has led to water supply
problems in some towns and villages, increasing the risk of epidemics,
especially in the west. UNICEF is undertaking a measles vaccination
campaign in Bouake which aims to immunize some 70,000 mostly IDP children
in the area.


RESOURCE MOBILISATION

The Flash Appeal issued in November has so far received 15.12% of the
total funding requirement.

The latest financial tracking tables can be viewed on-line at any time at
www.reliefweb.int/fts

Information sources include the Integrated Regional Information Network
(IRIN). With the exception of public UN sources, reproduction or
redistribution of the above text, in whole, part or in any form, requires
the prior consent of the original source. This situation report is posted
on www.reliefweb.int, an information resource for humanitarian crises.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact:

Ms. Besida Tonwe, Head of Office tel. +225-2240-5175
Mr. Jeff Brez, Information Officer tel. +225-2240-5174
e-mail: jeff@ocha.ci



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