UN envoy assesses impact of Ivorian crisis

The UN Secretary-General's humanitarian envoy for the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire arrived in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, on Wednesday to assess the impact of the crisis on Ghana, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported. Humanitarian Envoy Carolyn McAskie's mission also included reviewing the humanitarian response in Ghana and ascertaining the level of emergency preparedness measures currently in place, OCHA said. During her 24-hour mission, McAskie was scheduled to meet government officials, including the Vice-President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, international humanitarian organisations and representatives of civil society. Some 40,000 people are estimated to have entered Ghana from Cote d’Ivoire since a failed coup attempt on 19 September 2002 led to a rebel war. Most passed through Ghana on their way to Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and other countries, OCHA said on Thursday. "The Humanitarian Envoy hopes to raise awareness among donors of the need to fund activities to prepare Ghana for a possible worsening of the situation in neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire," OCHA said. Before leaving Abidjan, McAskie, who discussed the destruction of shantytowns by Ivorian security forces with President Laurent Gbagbo, visited the "Washington" shantytown on 25 January and heard eyewitness accounts of brutality there. Residents of "Washington" later reported that on Tuesday night, their community was again visited by armed men in uniform who accused them of speaking to the press, set fire to nine homes, brutalized residents and detained seven young men. A similar incident occurred on Monday night in "Abdoulaye Diallo", another shantytown, where 50 homes were burned. "OCHA is deeply concerned with these reports and is following the situation closely, along with Save the Children, and other partners. OCHA again calls on local and national authorities as well as all security forces in Abidjan to respect national and international laws," the UN office said on Thursday. McAskie was due to leave Accra on Thursday evening for Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, before travelling to Guinea, Liberia, and Mali.