CÔTE D’IVOIRE PLUS FIVE APPEAL LAUNCHED IN ABIDJAN

CÔTE D’IVOIRE PLUS FIVE APPEAL LAUNCHED IN ABIDJAN

NEW YORK, 29 APRIL (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) -- In Abidjan today, the United Nations launched the Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for $85 million on behalf of 3 million people.  The Appeal is designed to meet the humanitarian needs of people affected by the war in Côte d’Ivoire for the rest of the year both in Côte d’Ivoire and in five neighbouring countries:  Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia and Mali.  The Appeal focuses on providing aid in the following priority sectors:  food security; health, water and sanitation; education; human rights protection; and coordination.

The crisis in Côte d’Ivoire -- which erupted in September 2002 -- has resulted in a large-scale exodus of Ivorians seeking refuge in neighbouring countries.  In addition, large numbers of “third country nationals” -- many of them who had lived and worked in Côte d’Ivoire for years -- have fled home or to neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso and Mali.  There have also been massive population movements within Côte d’Ivoire’s borders, as an estimated 750,000 people have sought shelter in other parts of the country.  The crisis has also caused social services to cease operating in many areas, as population movements strain health and education services.  The breakdown of law and order has led to vigilantism in the south of the country, and serious human rights violations in the north and west.

The effects of the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire are felt throughout the region.  Before the current crisis, Côte d’Ivoire represented about 40 per cent of the gross national product (GNP) of the African Financial Community (CFA) and 15 per cent of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).  The conflict has brought Côte d’Ivoire to an economic standstill, drastically reducing neighbouring countries’ access to markets and sharply reducing the flow of revenue that came from migrant workers in Côte d’Ivoire.

The Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal seeks $17.5 million for humanitarian programmes within Côte d’Ivoire; $6.9 million for programmes to assist populations affected by the conflict in Côte d’Ivoire in Liberia; $8.9 million for Guinea;

$3 million for Burkina Faso; $3.8 million for Mali; and 8.3 million for Ghana.  Humanitarian efforts to address problems such as food security, repatriation of third country nationals and health care at the subregional level require

$21.5 million.

For further information, please contact:  in New York, Brian Grogan,

tel. 1–212-963-1143; in Abidjan, Jeff Brez, tel. 225-2240-5174, or Pierre Marie N’Goré, tel. 225-2240-5172.

* *** *