Brussels, 14/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - The EU is busy on all fronts to help Ivoirian President Alassane Ouattara, who took up the reins of office on Tuesday, keep his promises on national reconciliation, restoration of security and reconstruction. A high-level delegation from the EU, made up of top-ranking Council (crisis management unit) and Commission (DG ECHO and DG DEVCO) officials is to be sent to Abidjan next week for talks with Ouattara on the immediate political, humanitarian and economic requirements, European sources said on Thursday. At the same time, the Commission is preparing to significantly increase its humanitarian aid to Côte d'Ivoire and neighbouring Liberia. Four experts from ECHO are already on the ground in the west of the country. A delegation of three experts will leave for Abidjan on Saturday to assess needs and provide Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva an indication of how much will be required over and above the €30 million already allocated (€56 million in total if account is taken of aid allocated by member states).
“Ouattara has said that he wanted a reconciliation process. We hope that, when he appoints his government, he will include people from across the political spectrum”, the sources said. The main priority is to help the government function, in particular in the social sector (hospitals, water, sanitation, schools, etc), which presupposes the restoration of law and order, ensuring revenue for the government and success in reconciliation. With the EU having partially lifted economic sanctions, “there is no longer any reason for the cocoa trade not to resume, though the banking system will have to be put back on its feet. In the meantime, Ouattara will need cash”, the high-ranking officials said.
The €1 million available for restoring stability and the €180 million made available by the Commission to help the country on its journey to reconciliation, democracy, economic recovery and sustainable development, form the core of the post-crisis package. The Commission hopes that to this will be added contributions from member states (France, for example, has already promised €400 million) to be able to begin joint planning. Individual targeted sanctions against Laurent Gbagbo and his supporters are still in force but “we are in contact with Ouattara to know when to lift them”, the sources stated. The EU is waiting to see the support the UN will provide to hasten the processes of reform of the security sector (RSS) and of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of fighters. (A.N./transl.rt)