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News note

Relief efforts for women and children in Ivory Coast ongoing

29 October 2002, Abidjan - UNICEF delivered emergency relief supplies to Bouaké and the surrounding towns of Tiebissou and Sakassou, in its ongoing efforts to alleviate the conditions of children and women affected by the country's crisis.

Relief supplies distributed to the affected populations in these areas include: twelve emergency health kits (which will cover 120,000 persons over a period of three months); as well as hundreds of kilograms of milk powder; sleeping mats; blankets; and, other essential items. The relief items were distributed to UNICEF implementing partners in the field including: CARITAS, Medicins Sans Frontiers and to various Catholic missions.

Working in collaboration with the Government of Cote d'Ivoire's Ministry of Social Welfare, UNICEF also transported 1 tonne of rice along with other food rations including: sugar, cooking oil, sardines, amongst other rations, to Bouaké. Additionally, UNICEF delivered two motorcycles to the Saint Martin's Catholic Centre in Bouaké to help establish a mobile medical team to reach vulnerable populations in and around the city.

In addition to the distribution of these emergency supplies in Bouaké, humanitarian assessment missions were conducted by UNICEF Cote d'Ivoire's Child Protection and Emergency officers in Daloa, Bouaké and Yamoussoukro. The civilian populations of both Daloa and Bouaké have been directly affected by the crisis: Daloa is currently under government control, while Bouaké is under rebel control.

"The situation of children and women living in these cities is becoming more desperate", says Carole Baudoin, UNICEF Cote d'Ivoire's Emergency Officer, on her return from the mission yesterday. "In both Bouaké and Daloa, there are virtually no health and social services functioning. In Daloa, for example, we found only one health worker - a mid-wife - working in the Daloa regional hospital. There are also health risks associated with the lack of access to water and adequate sanitation in these cities. Furthermore, there are well over 1,000 people arriving daily in Yamoussoukro who are fleeing from insecure areas. Whereas Yamoussoukro had earlier been a transit point for displaced families, it has now become a centre of refuge for fleeing families, causing a great strain on health, education and other social services."

UNICEF continues to provide emergency relief to these and other areas of Cote d'Ivoire affected by the crisis, while also advocating for the protection and the respect for the rights of children, women and civilians affected by the crisis.

For further information, please contact:

Patricia Dailly Ajavon, Communication Officer, UNICEF
Côte d'Ivoire Tel. 225 20 20 81 23 and cell. 225 05 97 40 77

Lavender Degré, Emergency Communication Officer,
UNICEF Côte d'Ivoire
Tel 225 20 20 81 10 et cell. 225 07 50 46 36

Kent Page, Regional Communication Officer, UNICEF WCARO, Abidjan
Tel: 225-20-20-81-03 et cell: 225-05.01.13.08