* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Despite relative peace in Côte d’Ivoire the underlying ethnic and political tensions remain largely unaddressed. The Community Safety programme of the Danish Deming Group addresses the key causes of violence to improve the safety and security for some of the worst affected people in the country.
A decade of intermittent civil war in the West African country of Côte d’Ivoire has left many civilians armed and in a state of constant preparedness for war.
“Today is a day that I will never forget for the rest of my life. Ever since the post-electoral crisis it is the first time that I was able to confide in an open way about my concerns over weapons and my own life. During the crisis there were serious things that happened here. Me, for example, I harmed the lives of some of the people that I have lived with for many years here in Kaadé, but I was forced to because we had to defend ourselves,“ says Koffi, a man in his early 30s who took up arms against the rival Guéré tribe during the last Ivorian Civil War in 2010-2011.
Each night, Koffi has horrible nightmares and he is afraid of reprisal attacks for what he did in his past. He does not have peace in his soul and is afraid to go outside alone, making it a challenge to work in his vegetable gardens. He has heard that people in his village seek to get rid of him and therefore he is always armed when he goes out.
“Everyone here has a weapon,” says Koffi. “All of the different ethnic groups are armed but nobody will tell you that they are armed. We live in constant fear that one day violence will start again.”
During the last civil war, Kaadé, located in Cavally region in the west of Côte d’Ivoire, was one of the epicentres of violent confrontations between soldiers and armed groups, but also between the different ethnic communities in the region. The town and its surroundings were strongly affected by the consecutive conflicts in Côte d’Ivoire over the past decade or so with destruction of property, massive displacement of people and loss of human lives.
As part of the Community Safety programme, The Danish Refugee Councils mine action unit, Danish Deming Group (DDG) has arranged for an open dialogue meeting as a starting point for bringing together the conflicting parties and relieve tensions to avoid further violence.
“Since the post-electoral crisis of 2010, this is the first time that all the classes, all the communities of Kaadé, who suffered so much during the crisis, have come together in a formal, official setting such as this, to speak frankly about the issues of community safety and armed violence,” says Pascal Douarou, the chief of the town of Kaadé, praising the programme.
Today Koffi has been given new hope. During the open dialogue meeting, the chiefs of the different ethnic communities all signed a document promoting non-violence and he sees this as a new beginning. All members of the different ethnic communities spoke to each other calmly and without a hint of violence. Koffi was allowed to speak freely and explain his feelings to the rest of his community. He told them that he would like to put down his weapons and be forever freed of his nightmares. He has promised to share his story and help other armed youth he knows to put down their weapons and understand the risks that firearms represent.
“I don’t want to experience such horrors ever again,” he concludes.
*Koffi is not his real name. It has been changed to protect his identity.
