UNOCI and UNHCR discuss their cooperation in Cote d’Ivoire
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, August 24, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Côte d’Ivoire, Y.J. Choi, had discussions on Monday 23 August with the Director of the Africa Bureau of the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, George William Okoth-Obbo, on the general political situation in the country and prospects for the return of refugees.
At the end of the meeting at the mission’s headquarters in Abidjan, M. Okoth-Obbo told the press that he had discussed with Mr. Choi the level of collaboration between UNHCR and UNOCI within the framework of the protection of the 25,000 refugees in Côte d’Ivoire and their return to their respective countries.
He stated that they had also discussed the conditions for the return of Ivorian refugees from neighbouring countries. According to Mr. Okello-Okoth, some 14,000 Ivorian refugees are in countries west of Côte d’Ivoire, awaiting the holding of elections. He added that he had come from Liberia and had spoken with some refugees who told him they were waiting impatiently to return to their country.
The Director of UNHCR’s Africa Division arrived in Abidjan on 22 August and will end his working visit on 26 August 2010. Côte d’Ivoire is the last stage of an awareness-raising mission to West Africa that also took him to Senegal and Liberia.
SOURCE
Mission of UN in Côte d’Ivoire
