UN says returning Ivorians lack food, shelter, medical care

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday said that many Ivorians returning to their home towns and villages in the wake of their country’s post-electoral crisis are in dire need of food, shelter and medical assistance.

OCHA said in a statement in New York that recent assessments indicated that internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning to western Cote d’Ivoire are in especially strong need of assistance.

It stated that IDPs are gradually returning to their homes but security fears and the ongoing presence of the pro-Ouattara Forces Républicaines de Cote d’Ivoire (FRCI), an armed group, in some areas has deterred many from doing so.

According to OCHA, "An estimated 142,000 Ivorian refugees remain in neighbouring Liberia, with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) currently verifying the figures."

OCHA also noted that hundreds of thousands of civilians remain displaced in Cote d'Ivoire, more than two months after former president Laurent Gbagbo finally surrendered, ending months of violence that erupted when he lost the UN-certified presidential run-off election last November to Alassane Ouattara.

Meanwhile, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have continued to distribute aids and have provided food, cash and agricultural kits to at least 110,000 households inside Cote d’Ivoire, as well as to refugees and host families outside the country.

"A measles vaccination programme in northern and central Cote d’Ivoire also achieved 94 per cent coverage,'' a UN statement added.
-0- PANA AA/BOS 28June2011