Cote d’Ivoire: UN Prescribes Social Cohesion For Economic Recovery

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Cote d’Ivoire, has suggested social cohesion as a precondition for the recovery of the country’s economy.

The Officer in charge of  OCHA in Cote d’Ivoire, Ute Koliies said last Monday in Abidjan that to facilitate reconstruction and economic recovery, the Ivorian government needed to put more efforts to facilitate social cohesion.

The Tide source reports that the political crisis that engulfed the country had resulted in about 3,000 deaths, with many of those displaced without food and shelter.

She said that there was need for a continuous humanitarian intervention in the country to ensure sustainable reintegration of hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and refugees.

Kollies also said that the support of the international community in Cote d’Ivoire was crucial in other to enable it withstand the shock from the political crisis.

“People need to return to their homes and live their normal lives, engage in meaningful activities before economic recovery can be achievable,’’ she said.

Meanwhile, OCHA’s report on the humanitarian need of Cote d’Ivoire in 2013 showed that more efforts would be geared towards providing support for internally displaced persons.

According to the report 86,000 Ivorians live as refuges in neighbouring West African countries while 22,050 persons live in severe conditions of malnutrition.

The reports estimated that infant mortality rate in the country is at 125 per cent while 56 per cent of births are handled by unqualified persons.

It said that about three million vulnerable Ivorian lacked access to potable water while 3,480 households in the west needed to rebuild their houses.