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# 									Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs: Cote d’Ivoire Summary							

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) works to keep Americans safe at home by countering international crime, illegal drugs, and instability abroad. INL helps countries deliver justice and fairness by strengthening their police, courts, and corrections systems. These efforts reduce the amount of crime and illegal drugs reaching U.S. shores.

**Challenges**:Côte d’Ivoire has made strides toward economic and political stability since the end of its post-electoral crisis in 2011. The government has since launched significant reform of its military, but more support is needed to help the government build the capacity of its civilian and internal law enforcement forces. INL support to Côte d’Ivoire’s law enforcementis geared towardenhancingits capacity to earn the confidence of the Ivorian people, create an ethos of shared responsibility for the country’s protection, and perform a wide array of internal security duties.  

**Goals**: INL’s program in Côte d’Ivoire aims to strengthen law enforcement capacity, respect for human rights, and promote security and stability. In so doing, INL is reinforcing the Ivoirian government’s toolkit to address crime, includingtrafficking in persons and illicit goods, and terrorism. 

**Accomplishments**:  
        - INL  signed a Letter of Agreement with the Ivorian government in September 2013, which forms the basis for cooperation on strengthening civilian policing and the law enforcement sector.  
        - From  2015 -2018 , INL  began implementation of the West Côte d’Ivoire Model Police Prefecture pilot project. Through this project, INL provide d  training, mentoring, and advising to support the Ivoirian National Police’s efforts to  partner with the local population to identify, report, and stop internal security threats, which, by extension,  improved  human  and state  security in west ern  Côte d’Ivoire. INL’s community policing  mentoring  resulted in over 100 community awareness meetings between police and citizens .  INL  also trained 98 police officers in community policing . In addition, citizens proactively created two associations to liaise with the police to  sustain their proactive and results-oriented engagement with the polic e. 
        - In partnership with the U N  Development Program, from 2018-2020,  INL  executed a train-and-equip program  to improve  police response to  Sexual and Gender-based Violence ( SGBV )  crimes, and public  awareness  of the  physical and social ills of  SGBV.  
        - INL and Côte d’Ivoire have cooperated closely on building  the capacity  of drug treatment professionals. Côte d’Ivoire has completed the Universal Treatment Curriculum (UTC), disseminated its use throughout the country, provided master trainers in the UTC and other training programs to assist other countries to develop their capacity. 
        - In 2019, INL partnered with the Ministry of Security and Civil Protection  (MSCP)  to establish and conduct monthly exchanges with a n  Ivoirian civil society working group, constituted of civil society representatives from across the country. In these exchanges, the Ministry in Abidjan hears directly from ordinary citizens about the security challenges they face, and is better positioned to respond to those challenges in a timely fashion. In July 2020, the MSCP formalized this civil society working group through a government ordinance.  

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Côte d'Ivoire

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