New prime minister pledges support for UNICEF

Cote d'Ivoire's new prime minister, Seydou Diarra, has pledged his government's support to the UN Children's' Fund (UNICEF) in its efforts to meet the needs of children and other vulnerable groups affected by the Ivoirian crisis, UNICEF reported on Tuesday. Diarra who met the agency's West and Central Africa regional director, Rima Salah, and its country representative, Georgette Aithnard, on Friday thanked UNICEF for bringing the involvement of child soldiers in the conflict to his attention. He promised to follow up "the tragic development" urgently, UNICEF said in a press statement. Salah urged the Ivorian government to help UNICEF and its humanitarian partners gain immediate and safe access to all children and displaced persons in the government-controlled south and rebel-occupied north. She said all schools should re-open, noting that since 13 February, when a UNICEF-supported "Back to School Initiative" was launched, 63,000 displaced children in the government-controlled south had been enrolled in schools, 23,000 more than had been planned for. However, Salah said, thousands of children were still out of school, especially in the rebel-controlled north, due to damaged school buildings and equipment, and the absence of many teachers and pupils who are unable to return to work due to insecurity. Aithnard told Diarra of UNICEF's preparations to deliver medical and other relief supplies to communities in northeastern Cote d'Ivoire which were inaccessible to aid workers until the recent deployment of a West African peacekeeping force, ECOMICI. UNICEF, she added, was ready to assist with the return of displaced teachers and health personnel to work in the rebel-held areas. She also explained the steps being pursued by UNICEF, NGO partners involved in child protection and local authorities in the rebel-held central town of Bouake to demobilise child soldiers and get them back into school.