Secretary-General's Humanitarian Envoy for Côte d'Ivoire in Abidjan

(New York: 23 April 2003) - In Abidjan today, Ms. Carolyn McAskie, the Secretary-General's Humanitarian Envoy for the Crisis in Cote, met with senior Government Officials and members of the UN Country team. Ms. McAskie is in Cote d'Ivoire on an eight-day mission to evaluate the current humanitarian situation and launch a new humanitarian appeal for that country. Ms. McAskie undertook a similar mission in January 2003 to Cote d'Ivoire and five of its neighbours: Burkina Faso; Ghana; Guinea; Liberia; and Mali.
On Friday, 25 March, Ms. McAskie will visit the Country's volatile west to get a first-hand look at conditions there. On Monday, 29 April, Ms. McAskie will participate in the launch of the United Nations Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal to meet basic humanitarian needs in Cote d'Ivoire and five neighbouring countries. This new appeal is covers a longer term and is more comprehensive than the Flash Appeal for Cote d'Ivoire, which the UN issued in November 2002. Humanitarian agencies received 41.5 per cent of the $22 million in funding required under the Flash Appeal.

The UN estimates that 750,000 Ivorians have been displaced as a result of fighting between rebels and the Government of Côte d'Ivoire that broke out in September 2002. The resources of families hosting the displaced are being gradually overwhelmed as fighting has caused Cote d'Ivoire's economy, once the engine of West Africa, to stagnate. Migrant workers from such places as Burkina Faso, Mali and Ghana have been forced to leave because of the conflict, compounding the slowdown of economies in Cote d'Ivoire and throughout the region. While there have been positive signs that a peace accord is taking root, consistent reports of human rights abuses against civilians continue to come in, particularly from the west of the country.

Last week, two non-governmental organizations, Medecins Sans Frontiers and Medecins du Monde, reported that civilians had been injured in helicopter attacks on 15 April near Danane and Mahapleu. MSF reported that at least 50 civilians claiming to be victims of the attacks in western towns had been treated at the Hospital of Man.