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The UN in Côte d'Ivoire

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estivoautumnal 17 Nov 2012
I've just spent the last month In Abidjan and the level of UN presence is amazingly high for a semi stable country. The high numbers of machine gun toting Ivorian soldiers can surely hold off any attacks from the north, but that's not my point. The UN who it seems keep Toyota's Landcruiser division in profit aren't really doing much. They seem to spend most of their time shopping and taxi-ing friends around the city. Can anyone with more knowledge on the subject (which won't be difficult) set me straight on this? Just what do the UN do in Abidjan?

80p for a beer. 20p for Gordon's gin. Lovely friendly people. Great jungle scenery and wildlife. Maybe one day it will get on the tourist map.
 BigBrother 17 Nov 2012
In reply to estivoautumnal: What countries were the UN troops from? The UN pays countries providing troops for doing so. For poor countries it can be quite profitable.
 john arran 17 Nov 2012
In reply to estivoautumnal:
I have no idea about cote d'ivoire but I have worked with and for UN in other places. I wouldn't want to be an apologist for it as i've seen awful inefficiency as well as very beneficial work, but it's worth pointing out that by definition the UN people you see won't be working! Whether they should be at the
time is of course another matter!
estivoautumnal 17 Nov 2012
In reply to BigBrother:

Spoke to some peace keepers from Niger, so yes it probably is profitable for their government.
 Kimono 17 Nov 2012
In reply to estivoautumnal:
my gf works for the UN, and, though as stated above there is dreadful inefficiency within the UN, she works her socks off under very trying conditions
 Kimono 17 Nov 2012
In reply to estivoautumnal:
ps but those guys sure know how to party
 TobyA 17 Nov 2012
In reply to estivoautumnal: Semi-stable? They had election violence that turned into a civil war last year didn't they?
estivoautumnal 18 Nov 2012
In reply to TobyA:
> (In reply to estivoautumnal) Semi-stable? They had election violence that turned into a civil war last year didn't they?

Yes.

There has been peace for 20 months. In Africa that is semi stable. What would you call it?
 seankenny 18 Nov 2012
In reply to estivoautumnal:
> (In reply to TobyA)
> There has been peace for 20 months. In Africa that is semi stable. What would you call it?

Sounds like it's barely just stopped to me.
 Kimono 18 Nov 2012
In reply to estivoautumnal:
Well, semi-stable countries are the ones the UN are trying to help so that they can become stable countries
estivoautumnal 18 Nov 2012
In reply to seankenny:

Unstable.
Semi stable.
Stable.

Not a difficult choice.
 seankenny 18 Nov 2012
In reply to estivoautumnal:

Are those the only choices I get? There are more varieties of biscuit available in Tescos!
 seankenny 18 Nov 2012
In reply to estivoautumnal:

I thought I'd check out a report from the UN on the state of its peacekeeping mission:

"The already volatile security situation in western Côte d’Ivoire along the border with Liberia experienced a dramatic deterioration with a direct attack on UNOCI peacekeepers on 8 June 2012, during which seven military personnel from Niger were killed.

"A separate but related attack on a Forces républicaines de Côte d’Ivoire (FRCI) unit... resulted in the death of one FRCI member and the wounding of another. On the same day, at least 15 civilians were killed by unidentified armed men in the area. These attacks, the heightened insecurity and the presence of armed elements triggered the displacement of about 5,000 persons."

More here: http://reliefweb.int/report/c%C3%B4te-divoire/thirtieth-progress-report-sec...

Perhaps this will help answer your original question?

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