“Too many people do not eat their fill, cannot educate their children and cannot access health care. All the social and economic indicators have plummeted… We cannot solve all of Côte d’Ivoire’s problems with just politics – and yet this has been the focus of everyone’s energy and resources for the past few years. Meanwhile the people have been sacrificed,” N’Gouan told IRIN on 2 June.
The civil society coalition wrapped up a week of consultations – 22 to 29 May – on issues from religious tolerance to girls’ education to the public debt. It brought together representatives of the government, political parties, local and international NGOs, think-tanks, donors, the UN and the diplomatic community.
The country’s first poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP) since the 2002 rebellion – released in February – says a large segment of the population is struggling in poverty, with a lack of access to education, health care and safe water.
Slightly under 49 percent of Ivoirians are poor (living on less than US$1.35 a day) – up from 38.4 percent in 2002 and nearly five times higher than in 1985, according to government statistics.
World Bank and International Monetary Fund officials in a recent paper said they believe it will be “very difficult” for Côte d’Ivoire to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty – from the benchmark 1990 level of 24 percent – by 2015.
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Civil society on governance |
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As part of its recommendations the civil society coalition calls for solidarity among politicians, the private sector and civil society to oppose coups d’état or efforts to lengthen presidential terms – both common in West Africa.
The coalition calls on all sectors to “abstain from” collaborating with any government coming to power through a coup d’état. It also urges governments and international organisations to oppose any effort by a president to modify the constitution to stay in power.
“In Africa coups are all too common,” Patrick N’Goan, head of the coalition, told IRIN. “We must absolutely avoid this in Côte d’Ivoire. Our most profound motivation is this: Once we get out of this crisis, we absolutely must avoid ever sliding into that again [by way of a coup or an abuse of state institutions].” |
“For a time we allowed just politicians to work [on the issues affecting our country],” said Nana Dodo, head of Côte d’Ivoire’s royalty and traditional chiefs. “But with these [meetings] we have seen civil society mobilize and go to work to rebuild the country.”
“The authorities must heed our recommendations so together we can return to the peace this country once knew,” he added.
Recommendations
In its report on the consultations the civil society coalition recommends in part: promoting civic and moral education in primary school; eradicating violence, political indoctrination, drug use and cheating in schools and universities; controlling population growth; modernizing the informal employment sector; reducing gender disparities in education; and reinforcing legal means to fight violence against women.
Philippe Légré, head of the opposition party Mouvement des Forces d’Avenir, said the consultations were like a pressure valve.
Photo: Gervais Rabet/IRIN  |
| Participants at a week-long meeting led by a Côte d'Ivoire civil society coalition |
He added: “Civil society must realize that politicians are not the enemy; at the same time, politicians must not have a negative view of civil society.”
While politics will not answer the country’s many ills, a successful, peaceful presidential election is indispensable to the stability that will be necessary for development, civil society members said.
"If the election [scheduled for 29 November] for whatever reason is postponed again it will threaten the [Ouagadougou] political agreement, which has allowed for the current peaceful environment," said Rinaldo Depagne, senior West Africa analyst with the International Crisis Group.
“If the election takes place it will be a major step to the end to the crisis, but just one step. There is a long way to go to restore stability even after an election."
The current government of President Laurent Gbagbo and rebel leader turned Prime Minister Guillaume Soro – formed as part of the March 2007 Ouagadougou peace accord – was to have led a return to stability and hold a presidential election within 10 months.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
