SECRETARY-GENERAL’S ENVOY DISCUSSES HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

SECRETARY-GENERAL’S ENVOY DISCUSSES HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

NEW YORK, 8 December (OCHA) -- Ms. Carolyn McAskie, the Secretary-General’s Humanitarian Envoy for the Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, arrived in Abidjan yesterday, 7 December, for a fourth follow-up and evaluation mission.

She met today with the President of Côte d’Ivoire and also with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Albert Tevoedjere, and the United Nations Country Team.  The discussions focused on pressing humanitarian issues in Côte d’Ivoire.

In her meetings with the President, Ms. McAskie called attention to issues including the protection and return of internally displaced persons and the need for basic services, such as education and health, to be restored, especially in the north and west of the country.  Ms. McAskie also raised the issues of land disputes, which have recently led to the expulsion of some farmers, and emphasized the need to find long-term solutions.  She stressed that education should be accessible to all children, and the importance of making official the school year for some 700,000 children in the northern and western areas, who have attended alternative schools since Côte d’Ivoire’s crisis began more than a year ago.

Ms. McAskie also met with international donors and called for them to generously support the recent inter-agency appeal for US$59 million to meet the needs of the most vulnerable.  Tomorrow, she plans to go to Bouake, north of the capital, for a first-hand look at challenges facing people there, who are in need.

For further information, please contact:  Mrs Frøydis Dybdahl Archer, (OCHA), Côte d'Ivoire, tel.:  (225) 22405175/76; mobile:  (225) 05933945; email:  froydis@ocha.ci; Stephanie Bunker, OCHA NY, tel.:  (917) 367 5126, mobile:  (917) 892-1679; Elizabeth Byrs, OCHA Geneva, tel.:  (41 22) 917-2653, mobile:  41(0) 79 472 4570.

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