Cote d’Ivoire

With 24 hours to go before the UN Security Council meets to discuss peacekeeping needs in Cote d'Ivoire, a human rights group said that more troops needed to be urgently sent into the divided country, which is shuffling along the path to peace. In a report published on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch called for an immediate reinforcement of the UN mission in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI), warning that if the fragile peace process breaks down, "attacks against civilians could set off a sudden spiral of hu...read more

An exchange of insults between two children of different ethnic groups mushroomed two days later into full-scale fighting between neighbours in this large village in the no-man's land between government and rebel lines in Cote d'Ivoire. Houses were burned, cattle were killed, several people received machete wounds and 1,000 members of the minority Dioula community in Boli last month trekked out to seek shelter in the rebel sector.

The University of Bouake in the rebel-held north of Cote d'Ivoire is set to reopen next month almost three years after the outbreak of war forced it to close it doors and deprived thousands of youngsters of a chance of higher education, government and rebel officials said. Dozens of new students lined up at the campus on Wednesday to enrol for the first academic year since the start of the civil war in September 2002.

The incumbent will mentor 4 or 5 of the independent newspapers in Cote d'Ivoire that are committed to improving editorial balance. S/he will work with owners and managers to understand the importance of balanced news and the impact of credible editorial content on advertising revenue and readership levels. Fluency in French is required.

Wednesday is the day the United Nations Security Council threatened to impose a second wave of sanctions on anyone obstructing Cote d'Ivoire's peace process. But will the travel bans and asset freezes be forthcoming?Algerian ambassador Abdallah Baali, the Security Council president for December, seemed to hint on Monday that the UN might wait and give a recent peace drive by South African President Thabo Mbeki time to bear fruit.

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