CÔTE D'IVOIRE / VOLUNTARY DISARMAMENT

A UN voluntary disarmament operation aims to collect illegal weapons still in circulation among the civilian population. ONUCI

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:18
• Production Date: 9 February 2012
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS OPERATIONS IN COTE D'IVOIRE - UNOCI
• Subject Topical: POLITICAL AFFAIRS; LAW; INTERNATIONAL LAW; POLITICAL CONDITIONS; PEACE AND SECURITY; DISARMAMENT
• Geographic Subject: COTE D'IVOIRE
• MAMS Id: U120209b

Description

STORY: CÔTE D’IVOIRE / VOLUNTARY DISARMAMENT
TRT: 2.18
SOURCE: ONUCI
RESTRICTIONS: None
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 8 February 2012, ABIDJAN, CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, cultural center
2. Wide shot, arrival of the ONUCI forces
3. Med shot, combatant
4. Med shot, combatant
5. Wide shot, ex-combatant holding his weapon
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Ex-combatant:
“We have deposited weapons because it was becoming cumbersome. The war is over. We fought for a cause that has been acquired.”
7. Med shot: voluntary
8. Close shot, weapons
9. SOUND BITE (French) Ex-combatant:
“Not every call has to be for the military life. We must deposit the arms to return to our civil life.”
10. Med shot, weapons specialist inspecting a gun
11. Med shot, weapons
12. SOUNDBITE (French) Ex-combatant:
“We had taken up arms for a cause: freedom, justice and equality. All of that has been restored, so we decided to disarm. Yet, I ask the Government to think of us. We need to eat.”
13. Wide shot, ex-combatant on crutches
14. Close shot, ex-combatant taking weapons out of his fanny pack
15. Close shot, bullets
16. Close shot, grenades and other weapons
17. Close shot, weapons
18. Close shot, weapons
19. Wide shot, identification process room
20. Wide shot, identification process
21. Met shot, ex-combatant waits to have his picture taken

Storyline

In Côte D’IvoireAn ongoing UN voluntary disarmament operation aims to collect illegal weapons still in circulation among the civilian population.

The operation, conducted by the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (ONUCI) and national authorities, is part of a wider national campaign that began in June 2011 and targets various regions of the country.

On Wednesday in Attécoubé, a northern suburb of Abidjan, those who bring in arms stress that they no longer have any need for such weapons now that the violence that followed the 2010 presidential elections has ended.

SOUNDBITE (French) Ex-combatant:
“We have deposited weapons because it was becoming cumbersome. The war is over. We fought for a cause that has been acquired.”

The arms collection drive has encouraged all those keeping arms illegally to hand them in voluntarily in order to contribute to the crisis-resolution process.

SOUND BITE (French) Ex-combatant:
“Not every call has to be for the military life. We must deposit the arms to return to our civil life.”

Since the collection programme began, more than 1,000 arms have been collected.

SOUNDBITE (French) Ex-combatant:
“We had taken up arms for a cause: freedom, justice and equality. All of that has been restored, so we decided to disarm. Yet, I ask the Government to think of us. We need to eat.”

Supported by the Ivorian police and the National Commission to Fight Against the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons, it is being run in conjunction of UNOCI’s larger for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration efforts.