CIvoire is a Presidential Republic. The President is elected for five years by universal suffrage. He holds the executive power, assisted by a Prime Minister who is Head of Government. The National Assembly has 225 members elected for a term of five years.

CIvoire is currently going through its worst crisis since independence in 1960. After being postponed numerous times, the presidential elections finally took place in November 2010. The outgoing President, Laurent Gbagbo, and his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, both declared themselves the winner and named rival governments, plunging the country into a situation of political paralysis. The international community, the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) unanimously recognised Alassane Ouattara as the winner. The European Union and the United States adopted sanctions against Gbagbo and his followers. In December 2010, the outgoing President demanded that the United Nations Operation in Cte dIvoire (UNOCI) and Opration Licorne, the French peace-keeping mission, leave the country. The Security Council rejected this demand and extended the UNOCI mandate for a further six months. France also kept its forces in the country.

The armed confrontation between the groups disputing power became increasingly violent. The security forces were guilty of excessive violence against demonstrations by the followers of Ouattara, murdering many people. They also abused their power at the checkpoints verifying identity documents. On 1st December 2010, they carried out a violent raid on the premises of the RDR (Rassemblement des Rpublicains), the party of Alassane Ouattara, killed four people and wounded countless others. Various forced disappearances have been reported. Armed groups supporting Ouattara have been accused of abuses and indiscriminate violence against the civilian population. In a press release in March 2011, Amnesty International (AI) indicated that the security forces had to stop their bombardments in civilian areas, after forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo threw grenades into an Abidjan market, killing at least 20 people and wounding about 60.

Also in March 2011, AI underlined that UNOCI had to provide urgent protection for thousands of displaced persons sheltering in a Catholic mission in the West of the country in the midst of intense fighting. Some 10,000 civilians had sought refuge in the mission in Duafter fleeing the fierce fighting between the forces of Ouattara and those loyal to Laurent Gbagbo. It also denounced serious violations of human rights by both sides in the conflict, such as killings and sexual violence against women. Finally, Laurent Gbagbo and his wife were detained in April 2011 in a military operation involving French forces which attacked his residence in Abidjan. The international community has urged Ouattara to call for national reconciliation. However, the most recent reports mention that the supporters of Laurent Gbagbo run the risk of violent reprisals, despite the appeal by President Alassane Outtara to "refrain from any form of violence and revenge". UNICEF estimates that at least 500,000 people are still displaced in the country and that those who return home, especially in the West, are encountering violence and conflicts in the land that they left.

The legal system is not transparent and is subject to all kinds of political interference. The traditional institutions administer justice in the townships by applying customary law.

CIvoire is the worlds leading cocoa exporter, with 40% of the world market. It is also one of the main exporters of rubber, cotton, coffee, palm oil and fruit. The country has major infrastructures, with the port of Abidjan being the second largest in Sub-Saharan Africa after Durban (South Africa). The country is also exploiting gas and oil deposits, which ensures that it is self-sufficient in energy and enables it to export crude petroleum and electricity to the region. But many factories and companies have closed down due to the armed conflict. Growth has come to a halt and the country is now in recession because the internal problems have added to the effects of the present economic crisis. Part of the external debt was cancelled within the framework of the enhanced initiative in favour of the most indebted countries. The countrys recovery will to a large extent depend on the political and economic measures adopted by the new government.

Freedom of expression and freedom of the press continue to be limited in practice. The low literacy rates mean that radio is the most important means of communication.

CIvoire is a point of origin, transit and destination for the trafficking of women and children for the purpose of forced labour and sexual exploitation. Children from Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo and Benin are taken to CIvoire to work in agriculture or domestic service and on the cocoa plantations. During the armed conflict hundreds of children were recruited as fighters or, in the case of girls, for sexual exploitation.

According to reports, there are 215,000 street children, 50,000 of them in the commercial and administrative centre of Abidjan alone. The crime rate has also risen and arms circulate freely around the country. The number of girls working as prostitutes in the street has also increased. Many displaced families have their children working as street vendors.

Primary education is not compulsory. Education is free until the age of 13. Pupils do not have to pay for books or bear other costs but they do so, and some hire books from places in the street. Many children aged between 12 and 14 have already left school. 17.67% of children between 6 and 17 years of age go to school (73% boys, 61% girls). The World Food Programme provides meals at a very low price, which is nevertheless still beyond the reach of those who are too poor to go to school. As there are not enough places in secondary schools, admission tests are held to limit the number of pupils. Pupils who do not pass the examination have no right to free enrolment; once again, it is the poor that suffer most. Families continue to give priority to education for boys. 66% of girls at primary or secondary school give up their studies, often due to premature pregnancy. According to the latest data available, the net enrolment rate is significantly higher for boys than for girls (73%/55%). One in three children enrolled for primary school fail to complete the full course, and only 39% of girls complete their primary education. The education budget of Cte dIvoire in 2008 was 4.6% of the countrys GDP (UNICEF data, 2011).

As part of the political pressure being applied, public sector workers went on strike in protest at the refusal by L. Gbagbo to accept the election results. Approximately 60% of the countrys public sector workers are teachers, so the action represented a major mobilisation for a democratic solution to the crisis.

UNICEF has reported that in April 2011 over 800,000 children in Cte dIvoire were able to return to their studies after several months during which their schools were closed.

An ECE programme begins at the age of three and continues for three years. 46% of ECE is private. The net enrolment rate (NER) is 3%. There are 2,097 teachers at this level, 1,005 with the necessary training. The pupil/teacher ratio (PTR) is 21:1.

Primary education begins at the age of six and lasts six years. 11% of primary education is private. The NER is 57% (45% girls). 18% of pupils repeat grades. 48,308 teachers (24% women) work at this level, all with the necessary training. The PTR is 42: 1.

Secondary education begins at the age of 12 and lasts seven years. 3% of pupils follow technical training courses in lower secondary schools. The NER is low at 20% (35% girls). 16% of pupils repeat grades. There are no statistics on the teaching profession working in secondary education.

Secondary education begins at the age of 12 and lasts seven years. 3% of pupils follow technical training courses in lower secondary schools. The NER is low at 20% (35% girls). 16% of pupils repeat grades. There are no statistics on the teaching profession working in secondary education.

The law obliges the government to educate and train persons with a physical, intellectual, visual, hearing or mental disability and to engage them or help them to find employment, but in practice there is little training and few of them have access to the labour market. Many disabled persons live on the street.

The law .provides for the granting of asylum or the status of refugee in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its Protocol of 1967, and the government has established a system for the protection of refugees. A law of 2004 grants refugees legal status, including the right to work. But due to the prolonged and extremely violent armed conflict, many refugees have left the country.

The population has a wide ethnic diversity. There are five ethnic groups and each one speaks its own language. It is reported that discrimination based on ethnic origin persists. The main political parties have an identifiable ethnic and regional basis.

Academic freedom is very limited. The government keeps checks on most of the higher education establishments and a presidential decree has made it compulsory to seek authorisation to hold any meeting on the campus. Prestigious researchers forming part of the opposition have been threatened. The security forces used some groups of students as informers to monitor political activities at the University of Abidjan. Violent action on the part of FESCI (a student group supporting ex-President Gbagbo) intimidated students and teachers alike.

Sexual discrimination is prohibited but women find themselves in situations of subordination within society. Women take part in economic life (they represent 30.5% of the economically active population and 49.9% of the rural workforce ) but in the formal sector they are not recognised as head of family and companies place restrictions on the recruitment of women with children or pregnant women.

In rural areas, they have less access than men to production resources and fewer opportunities. The gender gap is encountered in many goods, inputs and services: less access to land, livestock, paid work, education, financial services and technology. This places additional costs and hindrances on agriculture, the economy and society as a whole, as well as on women themselves. Women in rural areas often run complex households and develop numerous subsistence strategies. Their activities normally include agricultural production, looking after animals, food processing and preparation, collecting fuel and water, informal business activities and taking care of members of the family. Many of these activities are not defined as "economically active employment" but are essential for the well-being of rural households.

Women who are victims of domestic violence suffer a serious social stigma and as a result usually do not report it. The courts and the police consider that domestic violence is a family matter. Access to medical or psychological treatment and legal advice on gender-based violence is very limited. According to reports by UNICEF , only 7% of victims have access to appropriate support.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a serious problem; although the practice is prohibited by law it is still carried out in rural areas in the north and the west. An awareness campaign has been launched in Abidjan mosques against AIDS, FGM and forced marriage.

The minimum working age is 14, but only the public sector and multinational corporations comply with this law. Boys work on family farms and in other activities in the informal sector. Girls start work as domestic employees at a very early age. Boys also work in gold and diamond mines in highly precarious conditions. Around 23% of children between 10 and 14 and 55% between 5 and 17 are involved in some economic activity. Data from March 2011 indicate that over 50% of children living in rural areas work, many in hazardous conditions on the cocoa plantations. An ILO pilot programme aims to ensure that children living in these areas go to school.

Workers have the right to belong to and form trade unions, apart from members of the police and the armed forces. As most work in the informal sector, only a few are unionised. Workers have the right to strike. Forced or compulsory work is illegal but exists nevertheless.

The State as an employer has not fulfilled its commitments towards trade unions in the public sector and suppresses strikes arbitrarily or excessively. Four leaders of the organisation representing secondary education staff, the Syndicat national des enseignants du second degr (SYNESCI), an EI affiliate, were arrested and ill-treated by the police during the strike called from 12 November to 2 December 2009 by trade unions in this sector, and were detained until 17 December, the day on which they were tried. They were given a suspended sentence of six months imprisonment, despite the fact that the agreement putting an end to the strike indicated that they should be released immediately.