Preparing for peace amid war

Ensuring that the fight between loyalist forces and insurgents in Cote d’Ivoire does not degenerate into civil conflict pitting communities against each other is the task a section of Ivorian civil society has set itself. “You have to prepare for the postwar period while the war is going on, and that’s what we’re doing,” Honore Guie, spokesman of the Collectif de la Societe Civile pour la Paix (Civil Society Collective for Peace) told IRIN. “We are preparing people’s minds for the postwar period so that they do not try to seek revenge after the war.” The Collectif, launched on 29 October, includes the local chapters of two international organisations that promote democracy - the Groupe d'etude et de recherche sur la Democratie et le Developpement social en Afrique (GERDDES-CI) and Association internationale pour la democratie (AID-CI). Its other members are Buddhist, Christian and Muslim leaders, and country's two main human rights organisations - the Ligue ivoirienne des droits de l'homme (LIDHO) and Movement ivoirien des droits de l'homme (MIDH). Its work is supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Belgium, Canada, the European Commission, the UN Development Programme and the UN Children’s Fund. The more than 16 million inhabitants of the West African country have been affected in various ways by an insurgency that began on 19 September. The civil society groups’ decision to come together was motivated by the realisation that things could get much worse "if nothing decisive is done now to stop the beginnings of ethnic or religious clashes observed in certain areas of the country" as they said during the launch of the Collectif. During a pilot phase that ended in mid-November, the Collectif sent teams to Abidjan neighbourhoods and 10 of the country’s 58 departments, where they met administrative officials, ethnic, religious and political leaders, as well as representatives of women, young people and foreign communities. Follow-up committees made up of community representatives were formed with a view to pursuing the sensitisation so as to avoid ethnic or religious conflicts. "We still have 48 departments to visit," Guie told IRIN. "But these departments include some that are located in the zone that is in the hands of the insurgents. While it was easy for us to go to the areas controlled by loyalist forces with the support of the government, we haven't yet found the necessary security conditions that can allow us to go to the north. "However, we are trying to obtain those conditions through the Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS - which is mediating between Cote d'Ivoire's government and rebels] and the UN system so that we can also reach all departments located in the territory occupied by the insurgents". One of the main challenges faced by the peace advocates is fear. In some areas, this prevented some political parties from responding to the invitations the teams sent out to prospective interlocutors. Fear has also conditioned the way communities view each other. "All ethnic communities are afraid," Guie said. Communities in the part of the country under the control of loyalist forces are afraid of the insurgents and communities who supposedly back the insurgents. Communities from the north of the country living in southern localities are afraid of being assimilated to the insurgents, and they are also afraid of being attacked by other communities." This fear, he said, was being kept up by individuals who have spreading rumours. In at least one case in October, level heads from two communities in the centre of the country were able to prevent rumours that one community was preparing to attack another from giving rise to clashes. Clashes have also occurred just after the insurgents took a town or just after its recapture by loyalist forces, Guie said. In some cases, the insecurity Cote d'Ivoire is now experiencing has added to existing tensions as in the southwest, where the sensitive issue of land ownership has given rise to periodic conflicts. These conflicts have opposed indigenous people and farmers from other Ivorian regions in some cases. In others they have pitted indigenes against migrants from neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso. Such conflicts have sometimes caused massive displacement. In 1999, about 12,000 Burkinabe were displaced from an area near Tabou in the southwest. In 2000, other Burkinabe were displaced from Grand-Bereby, just east of Tabou. Guie admits his group has its work cut out. However, it does not pretend to be able to resolve such deep-rooted problems. "In the first analysis we are trying to calm everyone, to try to get people to live together pending a reduction in the tension," he says. "Once the tension is reduced, once the war is over, we think in-depth issues such as the land problem can be discussed calmly, with contributions from everyone. "Since we've seen now what war is, I think many concessions are going to be made on all sides so that we don't go through war again, a war that has traumatised everyone."