A criminal court in Abidjan, the capital of Cote d’Ivoire, on 6 December 2011 dismissed criminal charges brought against three staff members of the pro-opposition Notre Voie newspaper accused of insulting President Alassane Ouattara in articles published in the newspaper on 21 November 2011. The Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent said the three were tried on new charges of 'violating the press laws' after the Public Prosecutors Department had amended the earlier charges of 'incitement to theft, looting and destruction of the property of others through the press'.

Three journalists have been arrested and detained in Abidjan prison on charges of 'incitement to theft, pillaging and destruction of public properties through the media'.

The new school year began at the end of October in Côte d’Ivoire but is getting off to slow start as students struggle to return to study after post-election violence disrupted education in many schools for months. In the west of the country along the Liberian border, schools between the villages Blolequin and Toulepleu are still closed, and many children have still not returned home after fleeing to Liberia or other parts of Côte d’Ivoire with their families, said Paul Yao-Yao, coordinator of Save the Children’s education programme in Abidjan.

UN agencies and NGOs are urging the Côte d’Ivoire government to reconsider its planned shutdown of sites for displaced people in the west in a bid to force them to return home. Some 18,455 internally displaced persons (IDPs) remain in 36 sites in the west, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates, while a further 169,486 are living in Côte d’Ivoire with host families. Teams are currently out verifying the latest numbers.

Amid the still-visible damage from election unrest in Côte d’Ivoire’s main city Abidjan is another less tangible but very real form of destruction - psychological trauma. It is difficult to say how many people need mental health care after the recent unrest, according to health experts in Côte d’Ivoire; the health ministry says it has no such figures. But health workers and residents told IRIN people seeking help with conflict-related trauma have few places to turn.

The chairperson of the Coalition of Ivorian female leaders (CFELCI), Mrs Mariam Dao-Gabala, has launched a sensitisation campaign for the mass participation of women in the country's parliamentary elections, scheduled for 11 December. Entitled 'Why not female MPs?' the campaign aims at mobilising women to break from the past and participate massively in the elections.

Challenges facing Cote d’Ivoire’s Ouattara regime, the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Cameroon, the run-up to the country’s recent elections, racial conflict in Mauritania and Zambia’s presidential elections all feature in this round-up of the African blogosphere, by Dibussi Tande.

The United Nations and regional governments are deploying additional soldiers to Côte d'Ivoire's border area with Liberia after deadly attacks on villages in the densely forested West African region, a military official said.

The ECOWAS Commission has proposed a road map to address the post-conflict challenges faced by Cote d’Ivoire, which includes restoration of peace and security, repatriation of refugees and settlement of displaced persons.

A high-level ECOWAS delegation led by the President of the Commission, Ambassador James Victor Gbeho, arrived in Abidjan on Monday, 22nd August 2011 for talks with officials of the Government of Cote d’Ivoire on how the regional organisation can support the country’s post-conflict reconstruction.

With power in Côte d’Ivoire having changed hands from Laurent Gbagbo to Alassane Ouattara, the social dynamic has shifted in Moyen-Cavally, creating new challenges for stability in the cocoa- and coffee-rich region where political partisanship runs largely along ethnic lines. But observers say community structures and local will to overcome divisions remain and can be built upon to move past unprecedented turmoil. 'People here have no choice but to coexist,' said Benjamin Effoli, prefect in the western town of Duékoué in Moyen-Cavally. 'Social cohesion is a non-stop job and every single person has his or her role.' He said in the wake of the latest crisis, long-standing community groups are monitoring the situation and discussing how to rein in strife.

The promotion of two Côte d’Ivoire military commanders against whom there are serious allegations of involvement in grave crimes raises concerns about President Alassane Ouattara’s commitment to end impunity and ensure justice for victims, Human Rights Watch has said. On 3 August 2011, President Ouattara signed a promotion making Chérif Ousmane the second-in-command for presidential security (Groupe de sécurité de la présidence de la République). During the final battle for Abidjan, Ousmane was the head of the Republican Forces operations in Yopougon neighborhood, where scores of perceived supporters of Laurent Gbagbo were executed extrajudicially.

Côte d’Ivoire has one president but two 'treasuries' - one official, the other funded from the continued collection of road tolls and other taxes by former rebels. During the nearly nine years rebels controlled northern Côte d’Ivoire, the civil administration, comprising such things as mayors’ offices and the treasury, did not function and the rebels collected 'taxes'. Months after Alassane Ouattara was finally able to take charge of the country, 'parallel' taxation has yet to be eliminated: The disorder and unpredictable extra costs are affecting people’s livelihoods, just as they are looking to bounce back from months of chaos and economic stagnation.

On Friday, July 29, 2011 President Barack Obama will meet Mr. Alassane Ouattara at the White House. Although the meeting may fall into the normal US-Côte d’Ivoire bilateral relations, it is nonetheless questionable that it is to take place at a moment when Côte d’Ivoire is still suffering from the consequences of the tragic events, which followed the presidential election of November 2010 and to which the Obama administration contributed.

Côte d’Ivoire remains fragile and unstable, says this report from the International Crisis Group. 'The atrocities after the second round of the presidential elections on 28 November 2010 and Laurent Gbagbo’s attempt to retain power by all means despite losing exacerbated already acute tensions. The next months are crucial. The new government must not underestimate the threats that will long jeopardise peace and must avoid the narcotic of power that has caused so many disastrous decisions over recent decades.'

Insecurity and malnutrition among Ivorian refugees in Liberia have forced the UN's refugee agency to relocate hundreds to inland camps. A UNHCR statement this week quoted refugees expressing fear for their lives due to fighting among armed rival gangs and which is affecting the distribution of relief aid. An estimated 2,000 refugees are affected by the relocation from transit centres and villages along the Liberian border with Cote d’Ivoire.

The acting president of the party of former strongman of Cote d’Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo has quit. Mamadou Koulibaly resigned, accusing some executive members of being opposed to 'any change'. Koulibaly, who is also the Speaker of the National Assembly, accused the Ivorian People’s Front (FPI) of being 'static, immovable, walled up in disorder, idolatry, worship of its founders, hopeless contradictions and fear of innovation'.

While months of political stand-off between two self-proclaimed Ivorian presidents may have come to an end, genuine political and economic liberation for the country’s people is far from being achieved, writes Maurice Fahe.

In scenes redolent of the kidnapping of Patrice Lumumba and storming of Salvador Allende’s presidential palace, France’s recent activities in Côte d’Ivoire have been purely about establishing self-interested ‘regime change’, argues Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe.

After four months of a growing crisis which threatened to tip Côte d’Ivoire into civil war Gbagbo was detained at the presidential compound on Monday (11 April) by forces loyal to Ouattara. French troops and UN peacekeepers, who had struck Gbagbo’s home in Abidjan from the air earlier, provided crucial support. The president-elect of Côte d'Ivoire has heralded 'the dawn of a new hope' since the arrest of his rival. In a television address to the nation, Alassane Ouattara said his predecessor would receive 'dignified treatment' and called on all fighters in Côte d’Ivoire to lay down their arms.