18 Jul 2012

UN / CÔTE D’IVOIRE

The top United Nations (UN) official in Côte d’Ivoire told the Security Council today (18 July) that although the country has shown “remarkable progress” towards restoring normalcy since the end of the violent post-election crisis last year, “the country continues to face important challenges and significant threats as it transitions to a peace building phase.” UNTV

Posted at: July 18, 2012 5:19 pm

Duration: 01:48

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / CÔTE D'IVOIRE
TRT: 1.48
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 18 JULY 2012, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1.	Wide shot, exterior UN building

18 JULY 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2.	Wide shot, Security Council 
3.	Med shot, delegates
4.	SOUNDBITE (English) Bert Koenders, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire:
"Côte d'Ivoire is making significant advances on the path to peace, stability and development. The economy is recovering, the country is progressively reintegrating into the West African region and the overall security situation has improved since the end of the post-electoral crisis last year."
5.	Med shot, delegates
6.	SOUNDBITE (English) Bert Koenders, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire:
"This positive picture should not obscure the fact that the country continues to face important challenges and significant threats as it transitions to a peace building phase. In the last couple of weeks, the country has been characterized by a certain degree of political anxiety, thus showing that the root causes of the conflict – land related issues, unreformed security forces, impunity, and lack of national reconciliation and political dialogue – need to be tackled urgently and in a transparent manner to the benefit of all Ivoirians."
5.	Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Youssoufou Bamba, Permanent Representative of Côte d'Ivoire to the United Nations:
"We should not forget that not very long ago, at the end of the electoral crisis, at the time that President Ouattara began to effectively assume the reins of State, they inherited a true no-mans-land with regards to human rights in Côte d'Ivoire. And here it is appropriate to recall that 10 years of the Gbagbo regime were characterized by the rule of no rights. It was during this period that the people of Côte d'Ivoire were victims of the worst forms of violations of human rights perpetrated by the death squadrons which kidnapped people and proceeded to summary executions with the simple suspicion of someone being against the regime or for the crime of having roots in the north of the country."
7.	Wide shot, Security Council

STORYLINE:

The top United Nations (UN) official in Côte d'Ivoire told the Security Council today (18 July) that although the country has shown "remarkable progress"  towards restoring normalcy since the end of the violent post-election crisis last year, "the country continues to face important challenges and significant threats as it transitions to a peace building phase."

The Secretary-General's Special Representative in Côte d'Ivoire, Bert Koenders, said in recent weeks, "the country has been characterized by a certain degree of political anxiety" which highlights the fact that the root causes of the conflict "need to be tackled urgently and in a transparent manner to the benefit of all Ivoirians."

These, according to Koenders, include land related issues, unreformed security forces, impunity, and lack of national reconciliation and political dialogue.

Ivorian Ambassador Youssoufou Bamba, in his address, reminded the Council that the Government of President Alassane Ouattara "inherited a true no-man's-land with regards to human rights in Côte d'Ivoire" after 10 years of former President Laurent Gbagbo's regime.

He said that during this period "the people of Côte d'Ivoire were victims of the worst forms of violations of human rights perpetrated by the death squadrons which kidnapped people and proceeded to summary executions with the simple suspicion of someone being against the regime or for the crime of having roots in the north of the country."

Violence erupted in Côte d'Ivoire in late 2010, when Gbagbo refused to step down after he lost the UN-certified election to Ouattara, who was eventually sworn in after Gbagbo surrendered in April last year.

Filed under COTE D'IVOIRE .