Facts & Figures
Key Facts
2002 Civil war
➢ Laurent Gbagbo became the president in 2000, a troop mutiny erupted into a full blown civil war in 2002, leaving thousands killed and thousands displaced.
➢ 40% Unemployment in Cote d’Ivoire
➢ 700,000 people were displaced by the 2002 Civil War
2010 Election Crisis
➢ In Nov 2010, Alassane Ouattara was international recognized as the winner of elections held in Oct. 2010 but Gbagbo refused to give up power. Many people were killed during the four month stand off and eventual capture of Gbagbo.
➢ Alassane Ouattara is the current sitting President of Cote d’Ivoire
➢ Both Pro-Gbagbo & Pro-Ouattara forces contributed to the violence
➢ 3,000 civilians were killed, 150 women were raped, & 1,000,000 fled to Liberia & Ghana in a period of 6 months. 519,000 people are still displaced as of May 2011
➢ Divided the country along political, ethic, & religious lines
Source: Sanjuktamoorthy.com
Ivorian Hope & Cote d’Ivoire
➢ Ivory Coast in French is Cote d’Ivoire
➢ Ivorian Hope is run by volunteers
➢ Ivorian Hope focuses its efforts in the western region of Cote d’Ivoire in the Duékoué area
➢ Residents of Duékoué are currently displaced internally
➢ Duékoué, which is home to majority Gbagbo supporters, faced a lot of persecution from Ouattara’s side and over 1,000 people were killed in the violence there last year. Ouattara’s recent attempts at reconciliation in Duékoué were not met favorably by the people.
Educational Links
CIA World Factbook Country Profile
Amnesty International Annual Report on Cote d’Ivoire
Amnesty International Report “We Want to Go Home, But We Can’t”
ICC Investigation on Cote d’Ivoire
Human Rights Watch October 2011 Report on Cote d’Ivoire “They Killed Them Like It Was Nothing”
Report Quote: “The country sits at a crucial moment, one in which it can make a break from its past and return to the rule of law or add a new level of grievances to what has fueled violence and insecurity for a decade. Côte d’Ivoire has tried impunity. It has tried political and ethnic favoritism. The most recent result was at least 3,000 civilians killed and more than 150 women raped. September 29 marked the six-month anniversary of the Duékoué massacre—perhaps the most egregious, but just one of many events involving grave crimes by the Republican Forces. The women who watched their husbands and sons pulled out of their houses and executed at point-blank range have received no justice; their neighborhoods and villages are still burned to the ground, and the residents who escaped death are mostly living elsewhere, often in humanitarian camps. The time for Ouattara to live up to his rhetoric on impartial justice is long overdue.”
(See Page 8 of the report for information on violence in Duékoué)
