**2.1 Côte d'Ivoire geographic and sociodemographic context**

Côte d'Ivoire is situated in West Africa in the sub-Saharan area. It covers an area of 322,462 square kilometers. It is bordered in the North by Burkina Faso and Mali, in the West by Liberia and Guinea, in the East by Ghana and in the South by the Gulf of Guinea.

The political capital of the country is Yamoussoukro, located in the heart of the country, some 248 km from Abidjan (in the South), and the economic capital. The official language is French. It is a country of immigrants, on account of being a crossroad of economic and cultural exchange. It has witnessed an urban growth since independence. The country probably has the best urban centers in Africa south of the Sahara.

On the sociopolitical level, Côte d'Ivoire is a democratic republic led by an executive President.

The population of Côte d'Ivoire was estimated in 2008 at 20,179,602 inhabitants. Forty three percent of the population is less than 15 year-old, and 49% are female among whom 51% are within the active reproductive age.

The Ivoirian population is characterized by its ethnic diversity. There are more than 60 ethnic groups divided into 4 main groups: the *Malinkés* in the northwest, the Voltas in the northeast, the *Krous* in the southwest, and the *Akan s*in the southeast.

Ivoirians are essentially religious-minded people, and the freedom of worship is guaranteed by the Constitution. The main religions are Christian faith, Islam and Animism.

As a rule, the Ivoirian population is diversified, young, barely literate and highly fertile; which constitutes a strong pressure on health agents who are over worked most of the time, especially in the situations of crises.

#### **2.2 The different wars**

Since the death of the Founding Father, His Excellency Felix Houphouet-Boigny in 1993, the country has always been prey to many uprisings. The climax was reached on the eve of Christmas in December 1999. The country knows its first putsch and a transition military take-over that lasted around 11months. At the end of the military confrontations linked to the putsch, people were traumatized and a few actions were taken against this traumatic experience. In 2000, a controversial election, urban confrontations and a military and political crisis, brought President Laurent Gbagbo to power. A number of initiatives, such as Reconciliation Days were organized in order to reunite the nation, as well as a few attempts of psychosocial actions. Despite this, on 19 September 2002, an armed rebellion cropped up that attempted to topple the Government. The failure of this attempt saw the partition of the country. The northern part fell in the hands of the rebels, while the Southern part remained under the control of government forces. A third zone, the trusted zone in the hands of the international forces (*Licorne* and *ONUCI*) representing the intervention forces separated the two warring forces.

In November 2004, the French army based in Abidjan, the economic capital in the South, attacked the Ivoirian army. People took to the streets and many casualties were recorded.

In August 2006, people were, once again, shaken by the problem of toxic waste damped into a number of sites in Abidjan. People concluded that, after the failure of the military coup, it was the time of chemical and bacteriological war.

On the political level, union governments came into existence, but their operations were once again hampered by internecine, partisan and political war. The country remained divided into two, even though on 31 July 2007, the reunification was announced. Despite of all these difficulties, the country lived on.
