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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Visits SFCG Youth Program in Côte d’Ivoire

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined SFCG's Côte D'Ivoire Country Director, Quentin Kanyatsi (right) and the Director General of CERAP, Reverend Hyacinthe Loua (left)

"Everyone has a role to play in deciding whether the future will be peaceful or not," said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during her visit to a Search for Common Ground (SFCG) youth program in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire on Tuesday 17 January 2012.

After meeting with President Ouattara, Clinton met with young Ivoirian leaders who have taken the courageous decision to help heal the deep divisions in their country, made evident during last year's electoral crisis. "Whether you are a president of a country, a minister or imam, a young man or a young woman, each person can decide whether to go on hating, or to begin living together and working together," said Clinton.

Throughout the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire, young people were both the perpetrators and victims of violence, targeted and manipulated by rival political parties and armed groups. But, if their energies are used constructively, youth can be one of the most productive and powerful forces for positive change.

Youth perform a play for Secretary Clinton about the recent elections in Côte D'Ivoire

The post-crisis period opens up the possibility for Ivorian youth to play a more constructive role in public life, and help break the cycle of violence and manipulation that has characterized youth activism in recent years. In Abobo and Youpougon communes – the outlying areas of Abidjan that were the most ravaged in the war – SFCG is helping young leaders become agents of non-violence and positive change within their communities, through mediation, training, and the arts.

Members of these SFCG-trained youth associations told Secretary Clinton how they were taking these new-found tools of mediation and peace into their communities. The youth also demonstrated how theater can help communities transform their emotional and social wounds into commitments to coexistence, non-violence and reconciliation.

"I am honored to be here with all of you who are seeking reconciliation and finding common ground," said Secretary Clinton in her remarks. "I want to thank Mr. Kanyatsi and colleagues at Search for Common Ground. We know how hard it is to overcome differences and to work toward reconciliation. So we are here today to applaud your work but to also recognize with you there is much more to be done. So it is our hope and our prayer that the work that is being done here will help build a new, strong, peaceful, prosperous Côte d'Ivoire for the young men and women and for all the children to come."

Since 2005, Search for Common Ground has worked in Côte d’Ivoire with the primary goal of facilitating reconciliation among communities and groups, strengthening social cohesion, and promoting reconstruction. “SFCG works across the conflict’s dividing lines,” explained SFCG Country Director Quentin Kanyatsi. “We support dialogue and collaboration between Ivorians of all ethnicities, regions, and political affiliations.”

With offices in Daloa and Abidjan, SFCG works closely with local women and youth associations, theater groups and community radio stations, as well as with the government. SFCG produces a menu of informative, entertaining and educational radio and television programs which are broadcast across 40 Ivorian radio stations and on the national television station.