Ivory Coast Refugees
March 2011
The Situation:
Dispute over the December 2, 2010 Ivory Coast presidential election where Alassane Ouattara was declared victor over incumbent Laurent Gbagbo has led to months of escalating clashes between supporters of the two sides. Supporters of Gbagbo claim that the Constitutional Council (akin to US Supreme Court) has overturned the results and declare Gbagbo is the rightful winner. The opposition, the West African community, African Union and most of the international community declare that Ouattara fairly won the election. As both sides refuse to back down, armed conflict has become heated and prevalent. Fearing an all-out civil war, more than 70,000 have fled the country to seek safety in neighboring Liberia to the southwest. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimat that in a worst case scenario this number may reach over 100,000 by the end of April. Women and children have been hit disproportionaetly hard by this conflict with many pregnant and nursing mothers coming across as refugees as well as over 20,000 children under the age of 18.
ELCA Response:
The ELCA is responding to Ivorian refugees in Liberia through our historical companion Lutheran Development Services (LDS) in Liberia and the wider ACT Alliance. Building upon ongoing efforts to promote sustainable livelihoods in Liberia, the ELCA through LDS is working to save, preserve and sustain the lives of Ivorian refugees as well as the host communities in Nimba County, Liberia. The response has been focused on providing clean water, kitchen utensils, mosquito nets, water buckets, blankets, soap, clothes and for agricultural inputs for farming.
On April 18, the ELCA designated an additional $60,000 for the work of the Lutheran Church in Libya and its Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Program. These funds will be used to address the psychological wellbeing of individuals, provide care and counseling to adults and young children. The Lutheran Church is one of the oldest religious organizations in Liberia and has over the years devoted enormous resources to responding to the social needs of the people of Liberia through its Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Program. Since 1998, a key focus of the church's outreach activities has been directed towards trauma healing, reconciliation and peace building activities to cater for the psycho-social needs of survivors of violence as well as combatants of the war.
What you can do:
Pray:
In this time of political uncertainty in the Ivory Coast keep this country’s people and government in your prayers, both personally and in your worship services, that the two sides may find a peaceful resolution for the sake of their people. For prayer petitions, check out this ELCA Worship resource.
Study and Share:
As you follow the situation in secular media, please check out these other resources for stories of how the ELCA and its partners are engaging in the situation.
Give:
Gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response help us to provide immediate and effective support to communities which are in need. Please consider giving to support the needs of this response and others like it. Information on different ways to give is provided in the left sidebar. Thank you for your prayerful consideration.
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Photo Credits: (top right) ELCA/Communications 3/2011
(middle left) ACT/FinnChurchAid/Päivi Muma