PRESS STATEMENT BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT ON CÔTE D’IVOIRE DEMOBILIZATION

 

Following is the press statement on Côte d’Ivoire delivered today by Security Council President Ellen Margrethe Løj (Denmark):

Members of the Security Council welcome the agreement on the disarmament, demobilization and reinsertion (DDR) process and on the restructuring of the armed forces signed on 14 May 2005 in Yamoussoukro by the National Armed Forces of Côte d’Ivoire and the Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles.

Members of the Council underline that this agreement constitutes a major progress towards the implementation of the Pretoria Agreement and commends the South African mediation for this new positive step towards peace, unity and stability of Côte d’Ivoire.

Members of the Council urge the parties signatories to this agreement to fully implement it, so that the DDR process can start without further delay.  The Council will monitor its implementation closely, bearing in mind the decisions taken in Security Council resolution 1572 (2004) to encourage the parties to pursue the peace process.

Members of the Council call on the international community of donors to provide all necessary financial resources to support the implementation of the DDR programme in Côte d’Ivoire.

Members of the Council urge the Ivorian parties and the National Assembly to rapidly adopt the amendment to the legislation envisaged in the Pretoria Agreement, in particular the law on the composition of the Independent Electoral Commission.

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