Cote d'Ivoire deploys armed violence observers across national territory

Agents from the Armed Violence Observatory (OVA) have been deployed across Cote d'Ivoire's national territory, said the Commission for Fighting Against Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Cote d'Ivoire (COMNAT-ALPC) on Wednesday. The OVA was created last December by the COMNAT-ALPC to facilitate the implementation of its action plans. "After the execution and evaluation of the pilot phase, the observatory is in the process of extending to over 107 communes and towns," COMNAT-ALPC said in a statement on Wednesday, after the training of 30 new agents of the observatory. The observers were trained on procedures of collecting data, recording, codifying information, transferring data and procedures for certifying data or incidents where armed violence has taken place. The COMNAT-ALPC deputy executive secretary Anzian Kouadja said other similar training seminars will be organized within the next three months so that the observatory can cover the whole country and help the government in the fight against illegal movement and proliferation of small arms and light weapons According to its initiator, OVA is "an early warning system that aims to promote communal security. It will operate on the basis of a map that shows conflict prone areas, but beyond that, it will provide a dialogue platform for local communities to discuss matters of security, development and peace." "It will be be used to consolidate and coordinate the interventions in the fight against illegal proliferation of small arms and light weapons as well as in the prevention of armed violence," COMNAT-ALPC added. Following the termination of the 2010-2011 post-election violence, COMNAT-ALPC piloted an operation for voluntary return of weapons by ex-combatants. The operation has so far managed to recover 300,000 munitions and 3,000 guns that have been handed to the national police. Cote d'Ivoire is still trying to overcome the challenges that arose from a decade of political crisis which was characterized by proliferation of weapons across the national territory.