Humanitarian envoy returns to Abidjan

The UN Humanitarian Envoy for the Crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, Carolyn McAskie, returned to Abidjan on Monday for a one-week mission during which she plans to re-evaluate the impact of the crisis and launch an appeal to donors for financial assistance for efforts to mitigate its effects. McAskie's visit is a follow-up to a mission she conducted in mid-January 2003 in Cote d'Ivoire and its five neighbours - Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia and Mali. Since then, the crisis has continued, presenting a mix of positive developments and setbacks. McAskie aims to hold discussions with key political actors, meet humanitarian actors, including UN agencies, and visit the hinterland to gain first hand experience of the situation on the ground. She is also expected to travel to western Cote d'Ivoire, where the humanitarian situation has grown more complex and volatile since late November. Last week, several western towns were bombarded by helicopter gunships belonging to the government. The highlight of her mission is to be the launch of a Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal Process (CAP) for the Ivorian crisis and its impact on Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana. The CAP is an annual call by the United Nations for funding for humanitarian projects around the globe. It is a mechanism put in place by UN humanitarian agencies to develop a common strategy, coordinate activities and ensure resource mobilization to address humanitarian needs in a coherent and efficient manner. Though it is traditionally launched in the last trimester of each year, the UN decided to launch a "special" CAP for Cote d'Ivoire this month in the hope of catering to the thousands who have been affected by the conflict and helping to resolve the humanitarian crisis. In other news, a meeting between presidents Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d'Ivoire and Charles Taylor of Liberia which had been planned for Monday in Kara, Togo, did not take place. Asked the reason for its annulment, Ivorian presidential advisor Alain Toussaint told IRIN that such an encounter could not take place unless the Taylor government recognized "its implication" in fighting in western Cote d'Ivoire".