When two students from allochtone ethnic groups (Ivoirians who are not “native” to the area but are from other parts of the country) were approached on November 17 by a young autochtone (someone from a “native” ethnic group) holding a machete, they were nervous; ethnic tensions in the area had been on edge, particularly since the local elections. The Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (Rassemblement des houphouëtistes pour la démocratie et la paix - RHDP), supported largely by allochtones in the area, had won control of the municipal council with less than a third of the votes. 

The autochtone asked the two young men for their ethnicities and, upon their response, attacked them. The two students escaped with their lives, but one suffered a serious wound to his face, and the other lost a finger trying to defend himself. They told other allochtone youth what had happened, and these young people met that same night to plan a revenge attack.

Ethnically based altercations are not new in Bongouanou and tend to increase ahead of the holidays. Conflicts between individuals over mining rights, the drug trade, or other personal grievances can take on an ethnic character when between members of two different ethnic groups. Tensions often degenerate into violence that disrupts classes and in previous years has led to injury, death, and the destruction of public buildings.

After hearing about the incident and the planned reprisals, NDI staff and members of the peace committee supported under the Community Resilience through Dialogue and Art (CORDIAL) program – the Dialogue and Consultation Platform (CDC) - prepared a response grounded in a people-to-people approach, centered on bringing “representatives of conflicting groups together to interact purposefully in a safe, co-equal space to forge trust and empathy” and helping group members understand each other, collaborate towards common goals, and ultimately prefer to find nonviolent solutions to conflicts. The peace committees are civil-society-driven local initiatives and promote social cohesion and reconciliation within Côte d'Ivoire. 

CDC is a conflict resolution mechanism put in place by community members. CORDIAL has helped the group increase its legitimacy by expanding its membership to be inclusive of all social groups and key stakeholders in Bongouanou.   

NDI and CDC immediately organized separate meetings with youth leaders from both ethnic communities, allowing each to provide their perspectives and hear information from a neutral and trusted source. During these meetings, NDI and CDC convinced the youth not to carry out any revenge actions, but rather permit the formal justice system to take its course. Drawing on early warning and response training from earlier that year, CDC members convinced  the allochtone youth that it was not in their interest to spark a series of bloody reprisals over the actions of one individual. CDC’s president is part autochtone but has developed credibility among allochtones as an agent for peace through the CORDIAL program, and she used this goodwill to reason with those present. Through calm discussion, the allochtone youth began to understand that the whole autochtone population was not to blame for the actions of one of its members, and appreciated that other autochtones regretted that the action had happened. They laid aside their plans for revenge. (The young man who had injured the two allochtone youth in November was quickly prosecuted through the court system rather than by vigilante justice; he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the attack.)

The CDC peace committee convinced the allochtone youth that it was not in their interest to spark a series of bloody reprisals over the actions of one individual, and they laid aside their plans.

The following Monday, the CDC and NDI met with the Regional Education Director to plan assemblies in the town’s high schools and middle schools, which were held throughout December. During these assemblies, the prefect, security officials, and education officials talked to the students about the importance of peaceful cohabitation between ethnic groups and their common interest in a prosperous Bongouanou. Students and speakers included members of both allochtone and autochtone groups. NDI and the CDC then developed training modules for students, which they used to train the peace club at the local public high school. 

The youth peace club continued the process by fostering dialogue and mutual understanding among students of all ethnic groups. The club’s members continue to act as peace ambassadors, showing their peers how they collaborate across ethnic lines for the common goal of peace. Following this training, the peace club undertook several initiatives that helped foster understanding across community lines that were previously difficult to cross. The students hosted a soccer tournament that brought together teams from each neighborhood and surrounding villages to create mixed-ethnic teams. They also organized a clean-up event at the police station to help students develop relationships with the local police, who have often been viewed with mistrust and who appear to consider students as troublemakers. They built on this work by carrying out events in which students from all ethnic groups visited the allochtone and autochtone neighborhoods to invite peers there to ignore unverified rumors and refuse to take part in violence. 

Together with the high school provost, CDC and NDI established a dedicated telephone line called “SOS ÉLÈVES” (SOS Students) and circulated the number widely, which students could call to report potential conflict or violence. The provost received numerous calls from students to report brewing trouble and directed the information to the CDC and local officials, who met with those who had been reported to ease tensions. By encouraging dialogue and discussion instead of penalizing the students, mediators ensured that other students continued to use the phone line. Several potential cases of violence were averted – including one case where a student reported that an unnamed politician had given him money to cause violence.  

Despite the violent provocation that threatened to sink the city into a repeat of past conflicts, these interventions helped to prevent further violence, and the city went into the holidays without any further disruption. This reality was only possible because of the brave decisions made by civil society and student organizations to reject the history of violence and escalation that had ravaged their communities and envision a more peaceful future. After successfully working with youth to forge connections across ethnic lines, CDC and NDI look forward to continuing to collaborate with students over the course of the next year to promote peace in Bongouanou. 

Author: Lindsay Robinson, Program Director for the Central and West Africa team

NDI’s engagement with this program is implemented with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

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NDI is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental organization that works in partnership around the world to strengthen and safeguard democratic institutions, processes, norms and values to secure a better quality of life for all. NDI envisions a world where democracy and freedom prevail, with dignity for all.