New funding from the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance
(OFDA) is providing additional return and reintegration assistance
to internally displaced persons (IDPs) who wish to return to and
are resettling in the former areas of residence in Western Cote
d'Ivoire.

The USD 200,000 has so far helped an additional 266 IDPs leave
the IOM-run Centre for Assistance to Temporary Displaced Persons
(CATD) in Guiglo for three villages and surrounding settlements in
the canton of Goum-Blao.

"Many more displaced persons now want to return to their former
homes in Western Cote d'Ivoire," says Jacques Seurt, IOM's Chief of
Mission in Cote d'Ivoire. "This new funding comes at a critical
time as it will help an additional 3,500 returning IDPs and
strengthen IOM's on-going peace consolidation
activities." 

The returnees, mostly West African migrant workers who had fled
ethnic strife in 2002 and 2003, were met upon arrival by local
partners and traditional elders who took an active part in
promoting grassroots reconciliation between host communities and
displaced migrant workers.   

Returning famines and vulnerable families in the host community
received food and non food items such as tarpaulins, blankets and
kitchen kits, which had been pre-positioned ahead of time by IOM.
Additional food assistance, seeds and tools will be distributed by
the World Food Programme (WFP) and Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO).

IOM's programme is based on comprehensive efforts to promote
reconciliation between communities of displaced West African
migrant workers and host communities.

As part of on-going reconciliation efforts, IOM teams regularly
travel to remote villages in Western Cote d'Ivoire to promote
reconciliation at a local level. Meetings, carried out in
coordination with local authorities, humanitarian agencies and
partner NGOs, bring together members of displaced communities and
village elders to discuss issues surrounding the return to the land
for displaced migrant workers. The gatherings are usually followed
by ceremonies of reconciliation in villages, where local
communities have expressed concerns regarding the return of the
displaced.     

IOM activities are funded by OFDA, the European Commission
Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO), the United Nations Central
Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and by Norway.

IOM needs an additional USD 1.6 million to expand its peace
consolidation, return and community rehabilitation programmes for
2007–2008.

For more information, please contact:

Jacques Seurt

IOM Abidjan

Tel: +225 07 46 85 78

E-mail: "mailto:jseurt@iom.int">jseurt@iom.int