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The swearing-in of Alassane Ouattara as president of Côte d’Ivoire on May 21, 2011, marked the end of a violent crisis provoked by former President Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to leave power after losing the November 2010 presidential election. The crisis resulted in more than 3,000 deaths and displaced one million Ivorians. After Gbagbo’s arrest, Ouattara’s government promised to rebuild the economy, foster national reconciliation and hold legislative elections. As a first step in this process, Ouattara established a Commission for Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation headed by Charles Konan Banny, who served as prime minister under Gbagbo from December 2005 to March 2007.
On Dec. 11, 2011, legislative elections took place peacefully throughout the country, though voter turnout was low. Gbagbo’s political party, the Ivorian Popular Front (Front Populaire Ivoirien, FPI), boycotted the elections. Two weeks prior to the elections, Gbagbo was transferred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to be tried for four counts of crimes against humanity. President Ouattara’s party, the Rally of Republicans (Rassemblement des républicains, RDR), won a majority of seats, followed by the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (Parti démocratique de Côte d’Ivoire, PDCI) of former President Henri Konan Bédié, who supported Ouattara during the 2010 presidential election run-off.
Current Activities
In October 2011, NDI launched a nine-month program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to promote peaceful elections in Côte d’Ivoire. The Institute partnered with a consortium of Ivorian civil society organizations to conduct a civic education and violence monitoring campaign in the period leading up to the legislative elections. NDI also conducted trainings for women candidates and political party poll watchers. Following the elections, NDI will work to increase the capacity of newly elected legislators to fulfill their roles.
NDI is also conducting a National Endowment for Democracy (NED) program to promote national reconciliation and democratic governance. In August 2011, NDI, the West Africa Election Observation Network and the Global Network for Domestic Election Monitors, in partnership with a broad coalition of Ivorian civil society organizations, hosted 55 civil society leaders in Abidjan for a forum on the role of systematic election observation in mitigating the potential for electoral violence. Experts from Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Kenya presented case studies from their respective countries and led exercises on innovations in violence monitoring techniques such as mapping, text messaging to report violence and citizen mediation efforts.
To support women’s efforts in the reconciliation process, in June 2011, NDI met with women leaders from all major political parties. During the meeting, participants agreed to send a team of women leaders to Douekoué, in Western Côte d’Ivoire, to help alleviate tensions between women from different ethnic groups, which has led to the exclusion of one group of women from accessing the local market. A team composed of a woman leader from the ruling RDR and two women from the opposition travelled to Douékoué in July to launch consultations with the different groups.
In July, the Institute organized a strategic planning meeting with the youth wings of political parties, civil society organizations and students unions to provide youth with a platform to decide what role they will play in the reconciliation process.
Past Programs
In 2008, negotiations facilitated by the Institute among Ivorian political parties, the U.N. Mission in Côte d’Ivoire and the Independent Election Commission (Commission Electorale Independante, CEI) led to the adoption of the Ivorian Political Party Code of Conduct at a ceremony attended by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, President Gbagbo, Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, high-ranking members of the diplomatic community and Ivorian civil society representatives.
Following the adoption of the code of conduct, NDI worked with political parties and civil society organizations to organize an extensive publicity campaign to educate party members and the general public about the code of conduct and political parties’ commitments. NDI produced a radio program that aired a discussion of the code’s principles and dispute resolution mechanisms. With NDI’s assistance, 1,686 posters and signs displaying the code were posted in schools, offices and other public areas across the country, and 3,420 brochures with the code of conduct were distributed.
On Oct. 7, 2010, NDI partnered with the CEI to establish a national code of conduct monitoring committee to monitor adherence to the code’s provisions and address potential conflict before it escalates. Representatives from opposition parties, the ruling coalition, civil society organizations and the U.N. mission in Côte d’Ivoire attended the launch event. In collaboration with the national monitoring committee, NDI helped establish chapters of the code of conduct monitoring committee in seven regions of Côte d’Ivoire: Bondoukou, Bouaké, Gagnoa, Korhogo, Man, San-Pedro and Yamoussoukro. These chapters addressed emerging problems at the regional level and reported regularly to the national committee in Abidjan.
Prior to the presidential election, NDI organized five youth forums on methods to prevent election-related conflict. NDI held the first forum in Abidjan on Oct. 5. NDI staff then traveled to violence-prone regions of the country, including Bouaké, Korhogo, Man and San-Pedro, from Oct. 5 to Oct. 12 to convene regional forums.
During the campaign period and following the first round of the presidential election, NDI recorded messages of peace from youth political leaders and high-level women political leaders. These messages were broadcast on radio and television stations throughout the country.
To increase women’s participation in Côte d’Ivoire’s political process, NDI trained 150 women interested in running for legislative office. NDI conducted the training in partnership with U.N. Women, starting in March 2010. The seminars focused on developing strategies to deal with challenges and barriers facing women in politics and strengthening qualitative and quantitative participation of women at local, regional and national levels.
Funding
NDI’s programs in Côte d’Ivoire are funded by the NED and USAID.
Contact Information
For more information about these programs, use our contact form or contact:
Abidjan
Charles Djrekpo, Senior Resident Director, cdjrekpo@ndi.org
Washington, D.C.
Jill Salmon Gustama, Senior Program Officer, jsalmongustama@ndi.org
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