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Ivory Coast

General data

ACF France's Mission

Launch date: December 2002
Local staff: 42
Expatriates: 7
In 2011, ACF deployed more emergency staff to respond humanitarian needs following the post-electoral crisis.

Country key figures

Population: 21,5 millions d’habitants (2010)
Life expectancy : 58.4 years (2004)
Human Development Indicator : 149in world ranking /169
GDP/inhabitant : 1106 $ US (2009)

Sources: WHO, World Bank, UNDP

Context

ACF in Ivory Coast

Action Contre la Faim intervened in Ivory Coast in the 90s to help Liberian refugees fleeing civil war and taking refuge in Ivory Coast. The mission terminated at the end of the 90s.
The return of ACF followed the crisis which broke out on 19 September 2002 and caused violent fighting particularly in the West. The politico-military crisis only gave rise to the need for emergency humanitarian aid at the beginning. After concentrating its aid in this Western zone at the height of the crisis, from 2003 to 2006, Action contre la Faim has been working on more structural problems. Following the disputed election last November and the violent conflict that followed, the international humanitarian organisation has stepped up its activities and deployed emergency staff and resources. It is currently operating programmes in the Western and Northern regions of the country as well as in the capital, Abidjan.
Here is a summary of the emergency programmes that Action Against Hunger has established in link with the post-electoral crisis, (as of april 2011):

Malnutrition programmes

The chaos of the conflict has damaged many of the Ivory Coast’s existing health facilities. Action Against Hunger is providing screening and treatment for malnourished children, particularly those under the age of five, and is supporting existing health centres with technical and logistical expertise.

In the Western region, 150 community health workers have been trained in how to screen malnourished children in local communities. 24 health centers are supported by ACF in order to treat children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, as well as two nutritional therapy units, integrated with hospital to treat children with more complex severe acute malnutrition.

Action Against Hunger is also providing technical support to a local NGO, in charge of nutritional treatment in Western camp sites where displaced families are staying and a systematic screening programme for malnutrition has been introduced. Many people who fled the conflict found refuge in the bush and so are unable to access the screening programme within the camp sites. In response, new mobile clinics have been launched to travel to remote locations to screen and treat children who can not reach the health centres.

Food distribution programmes

Around 25,000 people have sought refuge from the conflict in the town of Duékoué. Action Against Hunger initially provided emergency support to these families by supplying the existing community canteen with nutritional food and equipment. The canteen has been distributing food to 2,100 children aged six months to five years since April 23.
High energy biscuits have also been distributed to 1,500 children aged six months to five years, in seven sites for internationally displaced people in several areas of Guiglo.

35 tons of high energy biscuits were sent to Abidjan in emergency on April 16. Most of it has been distributed in the districts of Cocody and Yopougon, where the conflict has made it impossible for families to leave their homes to access basic food.

Self sufficiency programmes

In the Western region, ACF is also launching a program to help 2,500 families with food coupons in partnership with local businesses. These coupons allow people to receive a balanced variety of food from local merchants, whilst simultaneously supporting the local economy.

Many farmers were unable to protect their crops amid the conflict and many households were forced to consume some of their seeds, or had their stocks looted during the atrocities. To encourage a return to food self-sufficiency in the medium and long term, Action Against Hunger is elaborating a programme to revive agriculture, targeting at least 1000 households.

Water and Sanitation programmes

The huge influx of displaced people to the Western region of the Ivory Coast has led to a deterioration in sanitary conditions. Action Against Hunger has launched a programme to distribute hygiene kits (buckets, soaps, filters, basins, water containers and chlorine) to 2,000 displaced people staying with host families in the areas of Man-Danane and Zouan-Hounien. Nearly 1,000 families have already received the kits.

The construction of 400 latrines and 125 showers for 10,000 people in 40 villages is also underway. Whilst the water and sanitation programmes are progressing, a team has been recruited in a Cash For Work system to collect garbage, drain and maintain latrines and promote hygiene to avoid water borne diseases.

An outbreak of cholera appeared in Bromakoté, a neighborhood in Abidjan, where 2 million people reside. After a disrupted period, due to insecurity issues, hygiene promotion activities and the distribution of chlorine to 34,000 families has resumed, in partnership with the Ivorian Red Cross.

Besides its emergency programs, ACF also has programs in the North.

Zone of Korogho (North)

In May 2005, ACF opened a base in Korhogo and implemented a rehabilitation program aiming at improving the access to drinking water in rural area. As it was also necessary to improve access to drinking water in urban environments, ACF launched programs in the towns of Korhogo and Odienné in 2006.

Following an evaluation carried out in January/February 2006, ACF also launched a food security program in the “Savanes” area. This program ended in 2008.