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| Map of SOS in the Ivory Coast. Photo from SOS Archives |
April 13, 2011: Monday’s capture of former
Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbabgo, who refused to leave office despite his defeat in the November 2010 election, is bringing relief around the world. An estimated 1,300 people died and more than 500,000 were forced to flee their homes during vicious clashes occurring for months between Gbabgo’s forces and supporters of his rival, Alassane Ouattara.
Ouattara is considered the presidential election winner by the U.N. and other international entities. With Gbabgo’s arrest, Ivorians hope for a return to normalcy. But that will not be easy.
According to Marc Salvail, senior emergency coordinator for the U.N. Children’s Fund in Abidjan, the nation’s main city and the center of the violence, food is scarce. Humanitarian groups are not yet able to distribute food or reach much of the population most in need. Families, he told IRIN news service, are too frightened to leave their homes.
Medical care is practically non-existent, particularly in Abidjan, because hospital workers have been channeling their efforts and medicines toward treating the wounded and those with malaria.
Some 100,000 refugees from the fighting are now in Liberia. Many of those without the means to flee are living in ragtag refugee camps. About 70,000 people displaced by the fighting in Abidjan fled to the western part of the country, where overstretched shelters have caused families to live and sleep along the roadside, says Salvail.
A Call for Calm amid Lingering Fear
Despite President Ouattarra’s call for all fighting to cease, some observers fear that reprisals could continue, affecting the well-being of civilians. For instance, security is much better in the west than in Abidjan, but the region’s past civil strife raises concern among humanitarian groups that retaliatory acts are possible against civilians, children included, who are perceived as Gbabgo loyalists.
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| Two SOS girls smiling at a Village in the Ivory Coast. Photo by Catherine Flore Ngo Biyack |
SOS Children Remain Evacuated for Their Safety
In Ivory Coast (also known as Côte d’Ivoire) for two decades, SOS raises vulnerable boys and girls in two Children’s Villages. One is close to the port city of Abidjan, in Abobo-Gare. Due to a lack of security in that area, SOS evacuated the Village children and staff to its second SOS Village, in Aboisso, which is calm. SOS families will remain there until their safety in Abobo-Gare can be guaranteed.
You can be a part of creating loving homes for children in need by becoming a Global Village Builder. For as little as $12 per month, you can provide the essentials of life to hapless children whose lives have been turned upside down.
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