COTE D IVOIRE CARE Advances Reconciliation

MAN, CÔTE D’IVOIRE (June 8, 2011) – In the wake of the November elections in Côte d’Ivoire, horrendous violence was committed by all sides. More than 3, 000 people were killed, countless homes were burned to the ground, and today roughly 360,000 people remain displaced. These families have lost nearly everything. But the acts of violence that have torn apart Côte d’Ivoire are by no means unspeakable. In fact, the first step to preventing more violence is often talking about the bloodshed that has already occurred. That’s why CARE is listening.

CARE and local partner ASAPSU are operating a “listening center” at a camp for internally displaced people in the Ivorian city of Guiglo. This listening center, the first of several CARE plans to operate in Côte d’Ivoire, is a crucial early step in helping people steer away from vengeance and toward reconciliation.

“Forgiveness and reconciliation can occur“, says CARE Côte d’Ivoire Emergency Operations Coordinator Yawo Douvon, who directly facilitated similar dialogues for CARE in Burundi from 2004 to 2006. “I have seen it with my own eyes in Burundi – murderers asking victims’ families for their forgiveness, and families forgiving them, with both parties participating in reconciliation ceremonies and living together again.”

CARE’s listening center supports everyone from grandmothers trying to find a way to rebuild their family’s house, to children who have seen their mothers killed before their own eyes. Many people need multiple sessions. “I need to be heard every morning,” one participant told Vlei Leontine, a social worker who facilitates the private sessions.

Douvon said the process takes time. “In-depth and continued community dialogue must take place”, he said. CARE plans to replicate listening centers in villages where people are or will be returning.
With 80 staff based in Bouake, Korhogo, Man, and Abidjan, CARE Côte d’Ivoire has extensive experience with programs that strengthen the bonds between different parts of society: Muslims and Christians; planters and cattle farmers; and Boso fishermen and local fisherman. CARE continues to believe that the forces bringing them together are stronger than those pulling them apart.

Read our latest story from Côte d'Ivoire and find out how a little boy has escaped the violence.

Media Contacts:
Brian Feagans, Atlanta, +1 404 457 4644, [email protected]
Sandra Bulling, Geneva, +41 79 205 6951, [email protected]

About CARE: Founded in 1945, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty. Women are at the heart of CARE's community-based efforts to improve education, health and economic opportunity.