With World Cup fever taking hold in Cote
d’Ivoire, a new IOM initiative aims to bring together
football fans from all parts of the country around giant television
screens in an effort to promote peace in the war-divided
country.

Two giant screens have already been set up in
the western towns of Guiglo and Douékoué to allow the
population to witness the exploits of The Elephants, the Ivorian
national team.

“Despite years of blocked peace
negotiations, many Ivorians are putting their faith in the unifying
powers of football,” says Jacques Seurt, IOM’s Chief of
Mission in Abidjan “The Elephants can help reunite this
war-divided nation. This is why we have launched this project, to
help Cote d’Ivoire score a golden goal for peace.”

As part of this initiative, which is fully
supported by the local authorities, video recorded testimonies of
people from all walks of life calling for peace and reconciliation
will be shown during intervals in local languages and in
French.

“Everyone in Cote d’Ivoire has the
same goal: to win the World Cup and we are proud of all our Ivorian
players,” says a young Ivorian.

Côte d'Ivoire's selection for Germany
2006 includes players with origins from both sides of the United
Nations-patrolled buffer zone that has now separated the rebels in
the north from government troops in the south for more than three
years.

When The Elephants make their World Cup debut
against Argentina on 10 June, their attack will be led by Didier
Drogba, a world class striker who is Bete, the ethnicity of
President Laurent Gbagbo, while the defence will be secured by
Arsenal's star defender, Kolo Toure, an ethnic northerner, born in
the rebels' de facto capital of Bouake.

Leaders of the two sides in Cote d'Ivoire's
conflict, government forces and rebel fighters, agreed last week to
start disarmament and dismantlement of pro-government militias, in
what is the first step towards handing in weapons and ending the
crisis. The opposing forces also agreed to regroup loyalist and
rebel fighters once the so-called pre-regroupment phase - which
involves pulling fighters back from the front line - is finished.
No date has yet been set for the actual turning over of
weapons.

For further information, please contact:

Jacques Seurt

IOM Abidjan

Tel: 00 225 22 52 82 00

E-mail: "mailto:jseurt@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">jseurt@iom.int