HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES FACE DIFFICULTIES AS CIVILIANS TARGETED IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES FACE DIFFICULTIES AS CIVILIANS TARGETED IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

NEW YORK, 24 February (OCHA) -- As continuing instability limits their access to people in need, humanitarian agencies in Côte d’Ivoire are receiving consistent reports of abuses against civilians.  Shortages of food and access to health care are also taking their toll on civilians caught in conflict.

The western area of Côte d’Ivoire along the border with Liberia –- and, in particular, the area between the towns of Toulepleu, Guiglo and Touba -- remains highly unstable.  The World Food Programme (WFP) received information from the Government Crisis Cell and the Ivorian Red Cross indicating that some 40,000 internally displaced persons are present in the Toulepleu-Guiglo area.  The WFP has undertaken missions in the past week to the towns of Guiglo San Pedro, Tabou and Grabo to assess the food security of vulnerable populations and internally displaced persons in those areas.  The non-governmental organization Solidarities further reports that around 85,000 people have fled military confrontation, rape, pillaging, and summary executions near the western towns of Guiglo and Duekoue. Médecins sans frontières-Holland reports that there are some 2,000 internally displaced persons in Grabo, that “foreigners” there are suffering from human rights abuses, that the town has been looted, and that food security is tenuous. Solidarities also reports that shelter and hygiene conditions in the overpopulated villages situated on the fringe of combat zones are deplorable, and humanitarian assistance is not yet in place.  Reports of atrocities and lawlessness, particularly in the west, and large numbers of internally displaced persons fleeing violence are extremely worrying.

In a 20 February statement, Amnesty International lent its voice to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)’s continuing appeals to find a solution for some 40,000 Liberian refugees remaining in Côte d’Ivoire, including some 7,000 in Nicla refugee camp, saying “Liberian refugees are being indiscriminately associated with the armed opposition ... and are being killed both by Ivorian security forces and groups of civilians, some of them armed by the Government”.  The UNHCR continues voluntary repatriation of extremely vulnerable Liberian refugees from the town of Tabou in south-western Côte d’Ivoire:  as of 19 February, 2,200 had been repatriated.  Liberian refugees currently being housed in transit centres in Abidjan staged several sit-ins in front of UNHCR’s office in Abidjan during the reporting period, demanding to be moved to a safer location.

Humanitarian agencies also report that civilians in Côte d’Ivoire suffer from shortages of food and health care.  The WFP continues to provide food aid to vulnerable populations in and around Bouake, and monitor the food security situation of internally displaced persons and host families in Yamoussoukro and the sub-prefecture of Didievi with non-governmental organization partners, including CARE.  The Mie N’Gou reception centre in Yamoussoukro, where the WFP and a local non-governmental organization carry out a therapeutic feeding programme,

remains overcrowded and underfunded, lacking adequate hygiene infrastructure and logistical support.  The WFP is working with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Ministry of Education on a school-feeding programme aimed at ensuring that children attend school in areas affected by violence and instability.

In the health sector, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that

85 per cent of medical personnel in rebel-held zones have left their posts, and that at least 70 per cent of health-care facilities are not functioning.  Of particular concern are reports of malnutrition in children under five years of age, many severe cases of malaria resulting in death, and elevated rates of births of underweight babies and mothers dying during childbirth.

For further information, please contact:  In Abidjan, Jeff Brez,

tel. 225-2240-5174; in New York, Brian Grogan, tel. 1-212-963-1143.

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