Côte d’Ivoire / UNOCI trains traditional chiefs in Lakota on conflict management
ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire, May 27, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Civil Affairs Section of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI), on Tuesday, 25 May 2010, began a two-day workshop in Lakota, 226 km from Abidjan, aimed at reinforcing the capacity of traditional leaders on the methods of preventing and managing conflicts. The seminar brought together some 40 traditional chiefs from the district.
Speaking during the opening of the seminar, the head of the UNOCI delegation, Kenneth Blackman of the Public Information Office, highlighted the UN Mission’s commitment to continue supporting all efforts and activities aimed at promoting social cohesion and peace in Cote d’Ivoire. “At a time when Côte d’Ivoire is involved in the search for a definite solution to its crisis, it is necessary to reflect on the remaining challenges. A major challenge is the maintenance and preservation of social cohesion during the electoral period, which falls within the context of the crisis resolution,” he declared.
Mr. Blackman threw more light on the role of traditional chiefs in the promotion of peace in Côte d’Ivoire. “The entire UN system in Côte d’Ivoire has a special interest in the role and responsibility you bear in the promotion of the culture of peace and social cohesion,” he said.
The third assistant Mayor of Lakota, Konan Kouadio, said the population of his area was satisfied with the holding of the seminar. “This seminar is being held at a time when Côte d’Ivoire is struggling to come out of a crisis it has experienced during the past eight years,” he remarked. He called on the chiefs to make good use of the training in order to manage conflicts in their various localities.
The Prefect of Lakota, Kpan Aroh Joseph, thanked UNOCI for its constant promotion of peace and social cohesion in Côte d’Ivoire. “This is the second seminar UNOCI is organizing in less than a month in the ‘city of elephants’. The theme is quite pertinent because our country is slowly emerging from the most painful crisis in its history,” he said. He drew attention to the fact that conflicts related to land ownership, inter-communal cohabitation and the administration of villages, constitute a threat to Ivorian society. He however expressed the hope that after the seminar, the chiefs, who constitute the primary link between the local authorities and the village, will be better equipped to resolve conflicts.
The seminar, which brought together traditional chiefs, deputy prefects and representatives of civil society, was conducted by two consultants: Dr. Essis Essoh Jean-Mathieu, professor of public law and Professor Amoa Kouadio Urbain, doctor of letters and initiator of the international festival “La Route de Reines et Rois”.
SOURCE
Mission of UN in Côte d’Ivoire
