Côte d’Ivoire

THE OUTBREAK OF CIVIL war in 2002 following the succession of unstable governments since 1999 has made poverty a poignant problem in Côte d’Ivoire. In 2003, an estimated 37 percent of households were living below the poverty line and in 2004, the United Nations Development Program ranked Côte d’Ivoire among the lowest countries in terms of human development.

The low standard of living evidenced in Côte d’Ivoire has its origins in a gripping recession coupled with a large population increase experienced in the 1980s and 1990s, which indirectly resulted in the 1999 coup. The dust had barely settled on the new government when in 2002, a military mutiny in Abidjan led to a wave of violence throughout the nation.

Today, in the midst of a stalled peace process, many regions of the country are without access to basic social services such as education and healthcare. The transitional government that has guided Côte d’Ivoire through the peace accords has been powerless to work positively in the social sector as a result of a deadlock with dissident political parties. Moreover, the division of the country into northern and southern territories prevents any countrywide initiatives from moving forward. The persistent threat of violence in Côte d’Ivoire has also displaced a large portion of the population, especially in the western region of the country where the civil conflict has been particularly fierce. The refugee population constitutes a significant contingency of impoverished people whose itinerancy stifles their self-sus-tainability.

Côte d’Ivoire's poor health and education systems have at best stagnated since the conflict began. In 2002, adult literacy was below 50 percent; primary school enrollment was a mere 63 percent, and secondary school enrollment less than 25 percent. While the fertile, tropical climate of Côte d’Ivoire does not make nutritional deficiency a pervasive problem, the ravages and spoils of war have seriously upset the agricultural sector and not caused a scarcity of food but dealt a debilitating blow to the national economy.

Côte d’Ivoire is also faced with a significant lack of healthcare resources and a daunting HIV/AIDS crisis. Since the 1990s, Côte d’Ivoire has had only nine physicians per 100,000 people and 0.8 hospital bed per 1,000 people. In 2003, Côte d’Ivoire reported 570,000 cases of HIV/AIDS and lost 47,000 people to the virus. The life expectancy in Côte d’Ivoire is currently just over 40 years of age.

The instability and unaccountability of Côte d’Ivoire's recent governments have discouraged international aid and finance to Côte d’Ivoire over the last five years, with considerable dropoffs expected in 2006. These revenue sources constitute a significant proportion of the funding that subsidizes programs for public health and education, which are rapidly deteriorating if [Page 214]they have not already ceased to exist. Demanding to see positive action taken in the restoration of civil governance to Côte d’Ivoire, the international community has put a moratorium on funding until that time. Elections were scheduled for October 2005, but were unlikely to take place as a result of insufficient planning. The prolongation of the peace process entails ever increasing impoverishment in Côte d’Ivoire, but the pressure of the United Nations Security Council and the international community will most likely deter a renewed outbreak of violence in 2006.

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