Un aid agencies say Humanitarian Needs Growing in North Côte d’Ivoire

 

NEW YORK, 17 December (OCHA) -- Recent assessments undertaken by United Nations aid agencies in Côte d’Ivoire reveal that humanitarian needs are growing in the north of the country.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) has received an increased number of requests for food aid from farmers in the north.  Farmers there are worried about the poor harvest, caused by lack of rain.  A rapid assessment mission by the Ivorian non-governmental organization ARK to the districts of Korhogo, Bouna and Ferkessedougou in November revealed that farmers have only been able to harvest half of the crop compared to last year.  The poor harvest and high prices for food could lead to further poverty for households in the North and potential food insecurity.  The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is planning a crop assessment mission in January 2005.

In the villages of Prikro and M’Bahiakro near Bouaké, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) carried out an assessment mission that showed some 2,500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) there lacked sufficient food.  Several IDPs were suffering from diarrhoeal diseases due to the lack of clean water and sanitation.  The UNICEF will begin vaccination and will distribute medicines, while the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will supply other essential items.  There are approximately 500,000 internally displaced persons in Côte d’Ivoire, most of whom are living with host families.

Since the crisis began two years ago, the humanitarian situation in northern Côte d’Ivoire -- once the economic engine of West Africa -- has been characterized by the prolonged absence of public administration and basic social services. civilians in the north have been sinking further into poverty, having been cut of from the commercial activities and the social services of the South.  Health care is a major concern in northern Côte d’Ivoire.  An estimated 70 per cent of the professional health workers that used to work in the North have yet to return to their posts.  In one department/zone it was reported in May that there is only one doctor to address the needs of around 200,000 people.  In the same zone it has been reported that four out of five water pumps in the rural areas are not functioning.  Humanitarian organizations and donors will have to continue to support and encourage the Government to redeploy health professionals to the north.

The UNICEF estimates that around 700,000 children have been out of school since the beginning of the crisis, some because there are no teachers to teach them, others because their families are displaced or have become too poor to send them to school.  The Government is not organising school exams in the Forces Nouvelles held areas, which were scheduled for November, and is also refusing to organize the new academic school year slated for January 2005.  If exams are not held in the next couple of months, over 350,000 children will be left without official recognition for their year of study.  This impasse is also jeopardising the 2005 school year, which would leave these and thousands of other children vulnerable to delinquency, association with or recruitment into armed or violent activities, and sexual and economic exploitation.  It is estimated that around 700,000 children have been out of school since the beginning of the crisis, some because there are no teachers to teach them, others because their families are displaced or have become too poor to send them to school.

The United Nation’s 2004 Humanitarian Appeal for Côte d’Ivoire has received only 35 per cent of the $61 million required for emergency programmes.

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHANY, 917 367 5126, mobile:  917 892 1679; Elizabeth Byrs, OCHA Geneva, 41 22 917 2653, mobile:  41(0) 79 473 4570.

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