NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS : PRESS CONFERENCE BY CAROLYN MCASKIE, THE SECRETARY-GENERAL'S HUMANITARIAN ENVOY FOR THE CRISIS IN CÔTE D'IVOIRE

12.02.03

Carolyn McAskie, the Secretary-General's Humanitarian Envoy for the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire and Deputy Emergency Coordinator, today gave a press conference at the Palais des Nations upon her return from mission (16 January –10 February). Ms. McAskie commended the press for the coverage they had given the Côte d'Ivoire crisis and its regional implications, and reiterated that the common objective shared by the humanitarian sector and the press was to get the story out. OCHA had made a direct correlation between public awareness, particularly through the media, and its ability to gain support for humanitarian efforts on the ground.
Ms. McAskie said she would now be reporting to the Secretary-General, mainly on the humanitarian situation but she would also be making recommendations in other areas due to the complexity of the regional humanitarian, economic and political crisis. Within Côte d'Ivoire, she had visited Abidjan, Yamassoukro, Bouaké, which was the headquarters of the main rebel group FPCI, and the Nicla refugee camp hosting Liberians in the west of the country. She was unable to meet with the two representatives of the smaller rebel groups since they were attending the peace discussions in Paris, which resulted in the Marcoussis accord. She also visited the neighbouring states of Ghana, Burkina Faso, Liberia and Guinea and Mali.
The crisis in Côte d'Ivoire was particularly complex because of the large number of foreign nationals who had fled there. She characterized the humanitarian scenario along three major lines:

- Movement of people out of the country
At least 250,000 people had left Côte d'Ivoire. These included Ivoirians who had taken refuge in Liberia and Guinea; Liberian civil servants who had fled to north to Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana but were not refugees, since they were being repatriated by the Ivoirian government back to Abidjan. Also included were existing refugees inside Côte d'Ivoire, particularly Liberians who had now returned to Liberia despite the conflict raging in their country. Also fleeing were third-country nationals who were residents in Ivory Coast, particularly from Burkina Faso, Malians, Nigerians, Senegalese and other West African countries.

- Internally displaced people (IDPs)
600,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) from the north and west of the country were coming south of the ceasefire line into Abidjan. The Ivoirian authorities were taking care of about one-third of these people and host families had taken in the other two-thirds.

- People stranded beyond the ceasefire line
3 or 4 million people were left beyond the ceasefire line where government did not exist. These people had no access to schools, healthcare or social services. The health situation was deteriorating rapidly and communicable diseases, particularly yellow fever, meningitis and cholera, were on the rise. The anti-polio campaign had ground to a halt. Although the rebels controlled the soldiers, they had no authority over the outbreaks of banditry and delinquency. The most serious area of concern was in the west, along the Liberian border where " Liberian militias were running rampant and drugged kids with guns were committing every kind of atrocity possible". These areas were "no-go" even for the UN's traditional partners, such as ICRC and MSF, which normally went behind lines.
Ms. McAskie felt that the fact that the peace accord was holding was a credit to the international community and the West African states. Keeping Côte d'Ivoire stable was "critical" for the stability of the region, which would suffer "disastrous" economic and political consequences should the country fall. Burkina Faso and Mali depended on Côte d'Ivoire to sell their exports. The Ivoirian economy represented 15 per cent of the GNP of the ECOWAS countries and its collapse would have long-term negative impacts on the region.
The UN had launched an appeal for financing and she would be meeting with donors immediately after the press conference to encourage them to contribute to the life-saving requirements within the appeal, particularly assistance to governments in the movements of populations. The humanitarian agencies were updating the appeal to take account of the rapidly evolving situation. They would be re-issuing a new appeal towards the end of March to include requirements in Côte d'Ivoire and the spillover effects in the neighbouring countries.



* *** *