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Ambassador Wanda L. Nesbitt with one of the NGOs representative during the Grants Signing ceremony (Photo: Yacouba Soro/U.S. Embassy)

Ambassador Wanda L. Nesbitt Signed Grants to Support Democracy and Human Rights in Côte d’Ivoire

On September 16, 2008 Ambassador Wanda L. Nesbitt signed four agreements worth a total of ninety thousand U.S. dollars (USD 90,000) to support the work of human rights organizations in Cote d'Ivoire. 

These funds will be used to:

Eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM)
The Djigui Foundation will receive USD 21,755 to fight FGM in the department of Tengrela in the Savanes region.  The project will:

• Educate men and women in 15 villages about FGM
• Train 60 women and 60 men in the fight against the FGM
• Popularize the law on excision
• Install a system of permanent information on FGM in the target villages and districts

Sensitize youth and women about the electoral process

The Plate-forme de la Societe Civile pour la Paix et Democratie en Cote d’Ivoire (PSDPD) will receive USD 20,834 to:

• Educate associations and organizations of women and youth in the Valley of Bandama on the values of citizenship and civic education
• Train 36 women and youth leaders to master the basic principles of the electoral process and participate in this process
• Undertake outreach efforts to ensure youth and women from rural areas in the Valley of Bandama participate in large numbers in the electoral process
• Establish 5 outreach committees

Increase awareness of children’s rights and provide assistance to families

The NGO Union Africain will receive USD 22,500 for a project in the Bondoukou and Aboisso areas in the Zanzan and Sud Comoe regions of Cote d’Ivoire.  The project will:

• Educate parents and encouraging them to officially declare and register the birth of their children
• Assist parents in obtaining birth certificates and “jugements supplétifs” from courts in cases where children were not declared within 3 months of birth
• Financially support 400 destitute families so they can obtain “jugements supplétifs )” for their children

Sensitize educational stakeholders about sexual violence

The Association des Femmes Juristes de Cote d’Ivoire, which is leading a coalition of non-governmental organizations in the fight against sexual violence, will receive USD 24,911 for a sensitization campaign on sexual violence in schools in the District of Abidjan.  The coalition’s project will encompass eight educational institutions and contribute to the reduction of sexual violence in schools, as well as care for victims during the 2008-2009 school year.  The project will:

• Conduct an investigation into the issue of sexual violence in schools
• Identify 8 schools in the municipalities chosen for the project
• Strengthen the capacity of NGO members in the coalition
• Sensitize stakeholders of the education system regarding cases of sexual assault (ministries, heads of schools, teachers, educators, students)
• Sensitize health clubs and human rights clubs in the 8 schools chosen for the project
• Organize radio and TV broadcasts on the issue of sexual violence
• Conduct advocacy for the adoption of the charter of good conduct in schools and a better understanding and application of the law on harassment by the education system
• Establish monitoring committees to provide early assistance to victims and direction to appropriate centers

The Democracy and Human Rights Fund (DHRF) is an important component of United States development assistance policy in Cote d’Ivoire and is funded through the United States Agency for International Development.  The fund promotes civil and political rights as defined by the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The United States Government commends these four local organizations for taking the initiative and making a significant impact on the lives of people in their communities.  These four projects all demonstrate that focused, short-term, democracy-related activities can support an effective civil society, free and fair electoral processes at all levels, and the protection and advocacy of human rights.