OCHA Situation Report No. 2
Cote d'Ivoire
2 May 2005


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

I Key events

On Tuesday 26th April, President Laurent Gbagbo announced in a
nationally televised speech that all political leaders, signatories of
the Linas-Marcoussis Peace Accord, are eligible to run for presidential
elections slated for October 2005, specifically mentioning the name of
opposition leader Alassane Ouattara. President Gbagbo however made it
clear that this measure applies only to the upcoming election. His
decision is in line with the recommendation made by South African
President and African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki that Gbagbo uses
"special powers" granted to him by the Constitution to declare eligible
all the Marcoussis signatories. Gbagbo's decision means that there will
be no constitutional reform prior to the polls. President Mbeki has
recommended that if there needs to be a constitutional change, it should
be done after peaceful elections have taken place. On Thursday 28th, the
government in its weekly cabinet meeting announced that the first round
of the elections will be held on 30 October 2005. Since the
announcement, Abidjan has been unusually calm with no violent reaction
from pro-Gbagbo supporters. While welcoming the decision to open up the
elections, the coalition opposition known as "G7" has accused Gbagbo of
preparing a "constitutional coup d'etat" because he designated the
National Institute of Statistics (INS), a public institution, to prepare
the electoral list and produce voting cards that would include a photo
and fingerprints. The opposition says the INS has close ties with the
ruling party.

In the early morning hours of Tuesday 26 April, some 1,000
demonstrators, made up mainly of young men of the Guere ethnic group,
attempted to storm the Temporary Transit Center for IDPs, (better known
as Centre d'Accueil Temporaire des Deplaces) in Guiglo to avenge the
death of one of their own. The demonstrators claim a Burkinabe killed
the Guere man without having any evidence. Some 7,000 Burkinabes, most
of whom are migrant workers who were chassed off their land, live in the
CATD. However the Ivorian army protected the camp by using teargas and
rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. Out of frustration, demonstrators
started to attack property belonging to foreign communities in the town
of Guiglo. A prominent businessman from Niger was killed, while seven
people were wounded, including four who are in a critical state. Houses
and shops were looted, and vehicles destroyed. While the army provided
security around the transit camp, the Bangladesh battalion of the UNOCI
military contingent in Guiglo intervened as a facilitator, and
negotiations took place between demonstrators and Government Forces. The
demonstrators agreed to return to their villages while waiting for the
result of the investigations. The incident brought one of the
humanitarian's biggest fear in the west to the fore, meaning a violent
attack on the CATD on account of the difficult co-existence between West
African migrant workers, notably the Burkinabes, and some segments of
the Ivorian population. It also highlights the importance of
strengthening the protection mandate of the UN mission.

On Friday 29 April, a march organised in the western town of Duekoue to
protest against a strike organized by business owners, whom for the most
part are Dioulas from the northern part of the country, to denounce the
high-level of extortion and harassment by police. The march turned
violent when young armed men shot in the air and threw grenades. The
Ivorian army and the Bangladeshi battalion of UNOCI intervened to
restore law and order. According to media reports, some people were
killed, while a few hundreds have fled their homes and have sought
shelter in a few public buildings. On Sunday 1 May, the OCHA sub-office
in Guiglo reported that it would carry a preliminary assessment mission
on Monday 2 May as more violence erupted over the weekend.

Preliminary findings of an inter-agency assessment mission to the
departments of Danane, Biankouma and Touba from 26 to29 April point a
serious health situation with the absence of functioning health centers,
while water pumps are mostly out of order. Most patients rely on the
MSF-H mobile clinics to access health care. Furthermore the NGO signals
the alarm saying that sexually transmitted disease and the prevalence
rates of HIV/AIDS are of great concern in the west. It calls on all
health partners to intervene more aggressively in order to treat but
also prevent the spread of the disease.

II Humanitarian highlights

The national water and electricity companies, SODECI and CIE, are to
resume on 30th April billing consumers living in Forces Nouvelles areas,
notably the entire north, and part of the center and west. Since
September 2002, water and electricity have been free of charge in these
areas. The two companies have lost a great amount of money and have this
argument for not conducting rehabilitation work on the water and
electricity networks in these areas.

An OCHA mission, from 27-28th April, in the northern town of Tengrela,
near the border with Mali, has reported that locust were spotted in the
area during the week of 3-9th April 2005. According to local sources,
the locust formed a band of about 2km long and were red in colour.
Apparently, no crops were damaged in the area. The locust flew west
towards neighboring Guinea. Last year, a number of West African
countries, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Mauritania suffered
attacks from locusts, the worst in a decade, which decimated thousands
of acres of farmland. FAO is deciding whether it should field a mission
to verify the reports.

WFP will conduct a second month of food assistance to Boli residents who
have lost shelter and other property, but decided to stay in the town in
the wake of an communal clash on 30th March that led to the displacement
of some 500 people. This second distribution aims to carry them over
until the community can begin its planting season. A second distribution
is also recommended for the IDPs living in neighboring town of Raviart.

On Wednesday 27th April, UNICEF inaugurated an office in the
north-eastern town of Bouna, a Forces-Nouvelles controlled town, to
better monitor the health situation in the area that has suffered, in
recent months, an meningitis epidemic, electricity problems and water
shortage. The office will focus on health, protection and water and
sanitation. An IASC mission had recommended a UN humanitarian presence
in Bouna in particular, UNICEF, WHO, WFP and OCHA. Additional financial
resources will be necessary to establish an antenna.

III Resource mobilization (As of Friday 29th April 2005 according to the
FTS)

Contributions to WFP's 2005 regional operation for the Cote d'Ivoire
crisis currently total 9.5 million USD or 34% of the total planned
budget of 28.2 million USD.

OCHA has received a total of US $465,495 from Sweden and Netherlands for
coordination activities and response to the Ivorian crisis

UNHCR has received US $2,745,623 for the care, maintenance and
repatriation of Liberians, reintegration of Ivorians and urban refugees
of different nationalities.

Out of US $39,366,057 appealed for in the CAP 2005, only $3,211,118 are
actually available, representing 8.20% of requirements.

IV Upcoming events

New York: 4th May: UN Security Council meeting on Cote d'Ivoire

Bangolo-Guiglo: 4-7 May: First mission to map out social cohesion
activities in the west

Bangolo: 5 May: Meeting between UNOCI and the humanitarian community to
discuss security and reconciliation efforts in the Guiglo, Man and Zone
of Confidence areas.

A weekly report will be issued on Friday of each week summarizing key
events, while focusing on some humanitarian trends. This report will be
available on www.reliefwebint.int and will also be sent out by email

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