Ivory Coast Conflict 2011

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Following disputed presidential elections in November 2010, conflict swept across the Ivory Coast. In the violence that split the country 3000 people were killed. Many more, especially children, were affected by traumatic experiences from violence and abuse.

At the peak of the conflict, almost one million people, including an estimated 500,000 children, were forced to flee their homes. During and after the crisis, many health clinics were without staff. Supplies were blocked and clinics closed, leaving families with reduced or no health care facilities.

In 2011 Save the Children New Zealand supported the response to this emergency with a health care and assistance programme that aimed to restore primary health care and emergency services to conflict-affected areas.

To deliver this vital support to children and families, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Humanitarian Response Fund (HRF) provided Save the Children New Zealand with $233,000. Save the Children New Zealand contributed $31,000 from our emergency response funds to cover support costs for the programme. 

Save the Children’s overall response to this emergency focused on health, child protection, shelter, water and sanitation, food security and livelihoods.

Since 2011 Save the Children’s response has:

  • Supported 32 mobile clinics and health centres
  • Reached 31, 443 children, men and women with treatments and mobile clinics
  • Reached 4,454 pregnant women with specific ante-natal consultations and support
  • Established 52 child friendly spaces for children traumatized by the conflict
  • Distributed 15,600 hygiene kits including jerry cans, buckets, soap and water tablets to make water safe
  • Treated 1,857 children for varying degrees of malnutrition
  • Trained 528 health care providers and volunteers in the prevention and management of malnutrition
  • Supported a vaccination campaign to vaccinate over 800,000 children against polio and measles
  • Set up 39 temporary learning spaces and 4,180 early childhood development spaces so that children displaced with their families could continue school in displacement camps through setting up.

You can read more about Save the Children's response to this emergency in our report Ivory Coast Conflict: One Year On here.