Hello all! Hope all is well!

This is an informal post, but I am hoping those of you with UN or other IDP agency contacts will heed these words and help to get rapid assistance for the IDPs living in Cote d'Ivoire. I am currently living in Abidjan and have been watching as civil war is breaking out all around me.

There are an estimated at least 30,000 newly displaced persons within Abidjan alone right now (and thousands upon thousands more across the country), because of fighting between different militias, rebels, and government forces during this past week. I have seen many scattered, sleeping out on the streets with their meager belongings as they have no where else to go.

These populations are now being heavily targeted, facing attacks from different factions. I have taken reports of some having their throats slit. Others being trapped within tires and burned alive. Many others still are being harassed, attacked, raped and beaten by groups of thugs from both sides, depending on the ethnicity of the IDP and the area they are in.

The UN has a mandate right now to protect civilians. Civilians are not being protected. There is a large contingent of UN troops stationed at the Golf Hotel, while the civilians are seemingly left to fend for themselves. These people need protection, some sort of "safe zone" for them to head to. Some sort of camp. Something.

The situation here is escalating quickly. If these populations are not protected quickly, I fear there will be many, many lost.

Hoping for peace for Cote d'Ivoire.
Rebecca