Publication

In 2002, civil war broke out in Côte d’Ivoire, dividing communities and destroying already fragile public institutions. Although most of the fighting ended by late 2004, the violence left behind a legacy of contentious issues that have yet to be sufficiently resolved. The latest of numerous peace deals — the Ouagadougou Peace Accords (OPA) of March 2007 — promised to address many of these issues, but tensions remained high and several thousand French and United Nations troops (United Nations Operations in Côte d’Ivoire, or UNOCI) are still in Côte d’Ivoire to maintain the peace. This case study will review the relationship between conflict and education in Côte d’Ivoire and illustrate several points of particular concern for analysts of Côte d’Ivoire and for those engaged with peacebuilding and development elsewhere.