UN: Ivory Coast needs a cleanup

UNITED NATIONS – The outgoing head of the United Nations mission in Ivory Coast said the war-divided nation had a “historic chance” for progress and urged the country to deal with its “toxic waste, both in politics and in the environment”.

Pierre Schori said on Friday that, after 22 resolutions and 20 presidential statements adopted by the security council on Ivory Coast in the past four years, the UN was still at “square one”. “The gap between doctrine, resolutions and implementation in the field is enormous, and it’s detrimental to the peace process,” he said.Despite the delay in results, Schori said real potential existed in the talks being held in Burkina Faso.The talks could set the stage for disarmament, the dismantling of militias and preparations for elections.”Today, you can say that the Ivorians have a historic chance of getting out of this impasse, this stalemate,” he said.Ivory Coast has been split into a government-run south and a rebel-held north since rebels failed to topple President Laurent Gbagbo in a 2002 attempted coup.Troops from 16 African countries now patrol a buffer zone separating the two sides.A 9 000-member UN force backed by 4 000 French troops under a separate command has helped ward off all-out civil war in Ivory Coast.Schori called a resolution on Ivory Coast adopted on January 10 a “roadmap” and said the talks were aimed at implementing it.The resolution authorised the mission to dismantle all militias and help with preparations for elections by October 31.”I would like to say to them, ‘Don’t blow it this time…there will be no more excuses’,” he said.Schori also called for a broad cleanup of the government and a related environmental fallout after tons of toxic waste were dumped in the capital of Abidjan, a port city, leaving 10 dead and thousands seeking treatment.Three senior officials were suspended after the incident but Gbagbo announced he would reinstate them.”You need to get rid of the toxic waste both in politics and in the environment,” Ivory Coast, said Schori.Schori also shared his candid assessment of the UN operation from the final internal report he submitted after serving almost two years in the position.”There are a lot of things we need to change from the inside: The old boys’ network, for instance, the lack of implementation, and of awareness of gender,” he said, citing a UN resolution that says women should not only be seen as victims in conflicts but also as actors of peace.He said his own mission sometimes lacked a sense of urgency.Delays were created when tasks were delegated to others and sometimes got lost in the shuffle.Nampa-AP”The gap between doctrine, resolutions and implementation in the field is enormous, and it’s detrimental to the peace process,” he said.Despite the delay in results, Schori said real potential existed in the talks being held in Burkina Faso.The talks could set the stage for disarmament, the dismantling of militias and preparations for elections.”Today, you can say that the Ivorians have a historic chance of getting out of this impasse, this stalemate,” he said.Ivory Coast has been split into a government-run south and a rebel-held north since rebels failed to topple President Laurent Gbagbo in a 2002 attempted coup.Troops from 16 African countries now patrol a buffer zone separating the two sides.A 9 000-member UN force backed by 4 000 French troops under a separate command has helped ward off all-out civil war in Ivory Coast.Schori called a resolution on Ivory Coast adopted on January 10 a “roadmap” and said the talks were aimed at implementing it.The resolution authorised the mission to dismantle all militias and help with preparations for elections by October 31.”I would like to say to them, ‘Don’t blow it this time…there will be no more excuses’,” he said.Schori also called for a broad cleanup of the government and a related environmental fallout after tons of toxic waste were dumped in the capital of Abidjan, a port city, leaving 10 dead and thousands seeking treatment.Three senior officials were suspended after the incident but Gbagbo announced he would reinstate them.”You need to get rid of the toxic waste both in politics and in the environment,” Ivory Coast, said Schori.Schori also shared his candid assessment of the UN operation from the final internal report he submitted after serving almost two years in the position.”There are a lot of things we need to change from the inside: The old boys’ network, for instance, the lack of implementation, and of awareness of gender,” he said, citing a UN resolution that says women should not only be seen as victims in conflicts but also as actors of peace.He said his own mission sometimes lacked a sense of urgency.Delays were created when tasks were delegated to others and sometimes got lost in the shuffle.Nampa-AP