UN envoy calls for protection of civilians affected by war

Carolyn McAskie, the United Nations humanitarian envoy for the Cote d'Ivoire crisis, on Monday appealed to President Laurent Gbagbo and his government to protect thousands of civilians affected by war in Cote d'Ivoire. McAskie, who arrived in Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday for a three-day mission, met President Gbagbo to discuss the 15-month crisis that has left Cote d'ivoire divided into rebel-held north and government-controlled south. She called for a peaceful resolution of the political impasse. She urged the president to address the issues of protection and return of internally displaced persons in the country, restoration of basic services such as education and health especially in the north and west, and resolution of land disputes which had led to the expulsion of thousands of civilians from their farms. Gbagbo told the UN envoy that land was one of the main issues fuelling the Ivorian crisis, the head of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Cote d'Ivoire, Besida Tonwe, told IRIN after the meeting. The president, who expressed willingness to reform land related matters, dispelled the notion that most of Cote d'Ivoire's land wrangles involved foreigners, Tonwe said. According to Gbagbo, 80 percent of the land conflicts in the country were between Ivorian citizens. "The crust of the matter," Gbagbo was quoted as saying, "is that the land is saturated." McAskie told the president that the UN supported the peace process in Cote d'Ivoire, but was still worried about the livelihood of thousands of people who had been affected by the conflict. She urged Cote d'Ivoire to ensure that education facilities are accessible to some 700,000 children caught up in the conflict, in northern and western Cote d'Ivoire. Since conflict erupted in Cote d'Ivoire in September 2002 following an abortive coup against Gbagbo, thousands of people especially in the rich cocoa growing areas of the south and west have been forcibly evicted from the land, some on allegations of being foreigners in the country. Humanitarian agencies estimate that between 500,000-600,000 people have been internally displaced since September 2002, while thousands of nationals of neighbouring West African countries have been forced to return home. Before meeting Gbagbo, McAskie held separate meetings with Albert Tevoedjre, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Cote d'Ivoire, donors, heads of UN agencies and the Ivorian Prime Minister, Seydou Diarra. She urged donors to generously support the recent UN inter-agency appeal for US $59 million to meet the needs of war-affected people in Cote d'Ivoire. She was scheduled to visit the rebel-held town of Bouake on Tuesday to assess the challenges facing civilians living behind rebel lines.