"This agreement will further strengthen harmony among all communities in Paule Oula", Déré Bi, chief of Paule Oula, says.
With the support from NRC, the community, located ten kilometres from the city of Taï, signed the innovative protocol on land management and social cohesion. Initiated by NRC´s Information, counselling and legal assistance (ICLA) program, the signed protocols are intended to help communities to formalise their own rules and community life principles.
"These protocols could be compasses to guide communities to peacefully resolve land disputes which constitute a real threat to social cohesion", NRC’s ICLA Coordinator Digbeu Fidèle says.
In order to make sure the protocol is understood by all communities that have signed it freely, the sub-prefect of Taï recommended to NRC and the community leaders to organise an explanation sessions after the signing of the protocol so that all communities take ownership of the document.
With the support from NRC, 14 more communities in western Côte d’Ivoire, like Paule Oula, will sign their own protocols on land management and social cohesion.
