First Lady Dominique Ouattara had a meeting with Mrs. Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa. The meeting took place on Tuesday, October 23, 2018, at the presidential residence in the presence of Mr. Aboubacar Ocampo, UNICEF country representative and several collaborators of the First Lady.
During the meeting the Regional Director of the United Nations system took stock of the situation of children’s rights in West Africa in general and in Côte d’Ivoire in particular. Birth registration, birth certificates for all children and the fight against child labour were the topics discussed down the meeting. After more than 30 minutes, Ms. Marie Poirier, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa spoke about the purpose of her visit.
“The First Lady, we all know, is an incomparable ally of children’s cause. She is personally committed to moving this agenda forward. My visit aims to take stock of the situation. First of all, I needed to explain to her my itinerary as part of my visit to Côte d’Ivoire. Then to take stock of one or two main topics. It is about the rights of the child. This issue is making significant progress in Senegal. The first topic is birth registration. The First Lady, the Minister of Home Affairs and the Minister of Justice have launched a special operation to allow all children on Ivorian territory to have a birth certificate. This operation allowed children to easy enter grade 7. Now we want to see how we can guarantee birth certificate to every child.
