UN launches I Coast appeal
2003-11-20 13:02
Abidjan - The United Nations on Wednesday put forth an urgent appeal for $60m to address "serious humanitarian needs" in Ivory Coast, whose cocoa-based economy is in tatters due to a 14-month political and military crisis.
"Despite that significant progress has been made towards the achievement of peace and reconciliation in Ivory Coast there are serious humanitarian needs to be filled," said a statement launching the consolidated inter-agency appeal (CAP) by the UN Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The CAP appeal seeks to respond "to the needs of over one million people affected by the war in Ivory Coast, and those who have fled to Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana," the OCHA statement said.
"The strategic goal of the CAP is to support the capacity of national and local authorities to address life-saving needs of vulnerable populations."
The litany of social and economic woes facing what was once a beacon of prosperity and stability for west Africa includes crumbled schools and hospitals, which have exposed entire populations to malnutrition and once-curable diseases.
An armed uprising in September 2002 led to a 10-month civil war that officially ended in July. An ensuing political crisis has split the country in two, leading to increased instability and a lack of responsibility for infrastructure such as water and sanitation in the west and north, where most of the atrocities during the war were committed.
Two previous inter-agency appeals to address the crisis in Ivory Coast have met with limited success, with just 43% of their requirements being fulfilled, OCHA said.
Additional financial aid has also been slow to flow into the Ivory Coast, with EC president Romano Prodi saying earlier this month that if peace did not take root in Ivory Coast the European Union would not release €400m promised at January accords to end the civil war.