OCHA Situation Report No. 5
Cote d'Ivoire
19 - 28 May 2005


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

I. Key political and security highlights

The FANCI chief of army staff, Colonel Mangou, organised a ceremony on
Wednesday 25 May in Guiglo to signal the beginning of the dismantlement
of the militia in presence of dignitaries, local authorities and UN
officials. Four militia leaders and supporters were present at the
ceremony, notably FLGO, AP-We, UPRGO and MILOCI. They expressed their
commitment to restoring peace and their will to be included in DDR
programme, after a symbolic handing over of one weapon. The
representative of National DDR Commission announced that the DDR
programme would take into account the militias located in the western
areas, but it is not clear whether they are entitled to the arms for
cash entitlement.

The Special Representative of Secretary General (SRSG), Pierre Schori,
accompanied by the Humanitarian Coordinator, the Force Commander, the
agency representatives of WPF, UNICEF, HCR and the OCHA head of office
visited Guiglo and Man on Tuesday 24 May 2005, to obtain first-hand
information on the west, in particular on the protection of civilians
and social cohesion. He met with leader of local and foreign
communities, who complained about the high level of insecurity in
Government controlled areas and in the Zone of Confidence and the level
of animosity and mistrust between communities. The SRSG noted his
concern over the protection of civilians and indicated that UNOCI would
endeavour to carry out that task within existing resources. He also
mentioned that the security could be done adequately by strengthening
the UNOCI mandate and increasing the number of peacekeeping troops.

On Monday 23 May 2005, at the CNPRA meeting on the redeployment of civil
servants, it presented the first draft of the "Operation Bivouac", which
is a priority programme for the redeployment of high-level civil
servants in the north such as the Mayor, the Prefect, the chief
commissioner of Police, and the President of the Regional Council. The
meeting discussed the conditions of redeployment and donor support to
finance the return of civil servants.

II. Humanitarian challenges

Water and sanitation

The water supply system is close to shutting down with the Korhogo dam
almost dry. The water distribution company (SODECI) is now supplying the
population with 1,500 cubic meters, instead of 2,000 cubic meters every
two days. It was reported on the local radio that the water supply
company may stop distributing water on Saturday 28 May 2005 to avoid a
breakdown of machines, which started pumping mud.

The assessment of the supply of potable water conducted by humanitarian
actors with UNOCI and the civil-military component of the French
peacekeepers force on Thursday 26 May 2005 confirmed that the dam has
almost completely dried up. Meanwhile, emergency measures are being
taken to cope with the situation. UNICEF is making available 10 water
bladders of 10 cubic meters and 5 water bladders of 5 cubic meters. The
civil cabinet of the "Forces Nouvelles" is making available 7 trucks,
via the local carriers, to supply the distribution sites. A team of
UNOCI civil engineers is studying the feasibility of the cleaning the
water dam before the rainy season. SODECI, the private water company,
has refused to engage in any further work without payment of some of its
debt accumulated during the three last years.

Health, incl.HIV/AIDS

This week, OCHA/Bouake undertook a field mission to the Bamoro area on
Tuesday May 24 2005 to help the health center gather relevant
information on the number of Burili ulcer cases in the area. Data
collected in 18 villages out of the 26 villages located in the Bamoro
area revealed 99 cases of Buruli ulcer, among which 35 children from 2
to 14 years of age are affected. People affected with the disease refuse
to go to the Buruli ulcer treatment center of Sakassou because of lack
of money, which is a serious concern for the health personnel at the
clinic.

The JRS, Jesuit Refugee Service is providing medical assistance in the
neighboring villages of Bouake as well as providing the detection and
health care of people living with HIV/AIDS. According to JRS, ARV drugs
are distributed at the voluntary detection and information center based
at the University Hospital center of Bouake. The centralized
distribution of the ARV helps collecting data on people infected. As of
25 May 2005, only 87 infected people under ARV treatment were recorded.

Education

At the request of the School director, the French peacekeeping forces
through its civil military unit donated desks, benchs and sports
equipment for 200 children of the "Groupe scolaire St-Jacques" located
in Dar-Es-Salam, on Tuesday 24 May 2005, in Bouake.

Protection

Unicef is conducting a humanitarian evaluation mission in Duekoue, Man
and Danane, in conjunction with the National Coordinator on Protection
of the Minister of Solidarity, Social Affairs and disabled persons.
Meanwhile, HCR/Guiglo has registered about 16 000 refugees during the
refugees identification campaign in the western area, however the
registration process is not completed yet.

Food security

According to WPF, about 4 metric tons of food were looted during the
distribution operation, on Tuesday 19 May in the village of Ginkin
located in the western country on the road Guiglo-Blolequin.

WPF conducted a survey on Wednesday 25 May 2005 to identify eligible
populations for the "Lean season" programme slated on early June, in
Boli and Raviart. This programme is meant to give food assistance to the
vulnerable agricultural populations for about 3 months. A mission was
fielded in Boli and Raviart to make an assessment to provide assistance
to host families. WFP is also formulating a programme for both
localities to prevent the consumption of seeds donated by humanitarian
actors.

III. Resources mobilization (As of Friday 28th May 2005 according to the
FTS)

OCHA has received US $ 945,495 for the coordination of humanitarian
response of the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire.

Out of US $ 39,366,057 appealed for CAP 2005, only US $ 4,351,620 are
actually available, representing 11.10% of the requirements.

IV. Upcoming Events

31 May Meeting organised at the Ministry of Health in Abidjan on sexual
violence

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