Cote d'Ivoire

Part 2

The U.S. government's strategy to promote freedom and democracy includes supporting national reconciliation, strengthening the democratic process and civil society, and combating trafficking in persons and child labor. U.S. officials engage with members of the government and opposition political parties to urge that free and fair elections be held. The deputy secretary of state visited the country in November 2007 to underscore to political leaders U.S. government support for the OPA and to urge rapid implementation of that agreement, including the holding of credible elections as soon as possible. The U.S. ambassador and other U.S. officials engage regularly with the government to reinforce this message and have reiterated publicly the message delivered by the deputy secretary.

Part 3

In addition to public statements, the United States funds several programs that seek to further democratic principles. The U.S. government funded a program in the troubled western region of the country to promote reconciliation and alternative dispute resolution. Further, the U.S. government continues to sponsor U.S.-based NGOs' efforts to strengthen the electoral commission and political party monitoring of the identification process, provide technical advice on reforming voter registration, and build awareness and capacity to combat corruption and human rights abuses.

U.S. officials frequently meet with the press to discuss media freedom and human rights and underscore U.S. support for a free press. To promote media freedom and freedom of speech, the United States co-sponsored digital video conferences (DVCs), book discussions, and roundtables for reporters and editors on the responsibilities of a free press. The U.S. government continues to fund a training program for editors and journalists to encourage professionalism and to help depoliticize an often vitriolic press. U.S. officials trained editors and regional correspondents on electoral coverage and led discussions with editors, media associations, and media watchdog groups on politics and journalism. U.S. officials also toured major news organizations to stress freedom of the press and the role and responsibility of the media in conflict resolution. The U.S. government provided extensive training on HIV/AIDS reporting for radio stations and major newspapers.

In 2007 NGO activists, community leaders, and professionals participated in a variety of U.S. outreach programs on conflict resolution, civic education, transparency and good governance, and women and development. The programs involved the distribution of articles and books on human rights, democracy, and good governance to key contacts and municipal councils throughout the country.

Part 4

The United States supports activities to promote religious tolerance and women's rights. To address women's rights, the U.S. government supported a women's literacy program with a local NGO in the Korhogo and Ferkessedougou regions in the north. The U.S. government also offered support to a sensitization and training program for community educators to combat female genital mutilation in the Abidjan region and in the northern city of Korhogo.

Following the 2002 rebellion, the government targeted perceived supporters of the rebellion, many of whom were Muslim, for reprisals. Strong efforts by religious and civil society groups helped prevent the political crisis from evolving into a religious conflict. U.S. officials hosted programs focused on religious tolerance, including two Iftaar dinners for Muslim civil society leaders and a DVC with religious leaders on the role of religious leaders in effecting social change. The U.S. government sent two religious leaders, a Muslim imam and a Christian minister, to the United States on an International Visitor Leadership Program on religious tolerance with emphasis on the separation of religion and state.

To combat child labor and trafficking, the United States funded a local NGO that provided literacy and vocational training to 40 young girls in the Abidjan district of Yopougon who were trafficked into prostitution. The U.S. government continued to fund efforts to combat child labor through the establishment of a child labor monitoring system designed to ensure that cocoa beans purchased by U.S. manufacturers were grown and/or processed without any of the worst forms of child labor. U.S. officials frequently speak out against child labor and trafficking in conversations with government officials. The U.S. government also continued to fund a program with an international organization to end child labor in the cocoa and fishing industries and a project to help remove children from the worst forms of child labor and to enroll them in school. The U.S. government supported a local NGO that promoted school enrollment and worked to prevent child labor in a village in Oume district in the south-central region.