Humanitarian situation continues to cause concern

Thousands of people in Cote d'Ivoire continue to be affected by spiralling violence in the west, rebel activities stifling the economy in the north and displacement from their homes in the south, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Monday. "Intensifying violence and instability in the country's lawless west - especially in areas near the border with Liberia - are making it increasingly difficult for aid workers to reach civilians desperately in need of humanitarian assistance," OCHA said. "Conditions in northern rebel-controlled areas suffer for lack of public services and a strangled economy, and even in the government-controlled south, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the communities who host them face deepening economic and health crises." Humanitarian workers continued to grapple with large numbers of IDPs, including some 37,000 in the western district of Guiglo and 40,000 to 50,000 in nearby Duekoue, where little humanitarian assistance was available. "Continuing violence prompted tens of thousands of people, including third-country nationals, Ivorians and Liberian refugees, to flee both into Liberia, where they are now trapped in fighting near the town of Zwedru, and into government-controlled areas in the south" of Cote d'Ivoire, OCHA said. Humanitarian conditions in the north, largely controlled by Mouvement Patriotique de Côte d'Ivoire (MPCI) rebels, were also worrisome. WFP reported that commercial farmers in the area - now cut off from access to southern markets where they normally sell crops such as cotton - ran a high risk of food insecurity. OCHA added that UNICEF was sending a convoy of medical supplies to the north, as the situation of children in the northeastern district of Bouna was " near catastrophic" due to a breakdown in the health system, including a lack of vaccination campaigns. The current situation in Cote d'Ivoire was triggered by an armed insurrection on 19 September 2002. While the rebels were pushed out of Abidjan, they gained and kept control of parts of the north and west of the country.