On this page, you will find:
To find organisations working for LGBTQI+ rights, visit our Cote d’Ivoire LGBTQI+ Resources page.
To find organisations providing legal or other types of assistance to refugees in Cote d’Ivoire, visit our Cote d’Ivoire Legal Assistance page.
COI Experts
Email: ajgottli@gmail.com
Dr Gottlieb is professor of Anthropology, Center for African Studies, LAS Global Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, and Center for Global Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dr Gottlieb began working in Côte d’Ivoire 1979 and has remained in touch with Ivorians since then. Her primary expertise is among one small ethnic/linguistic minority group, the Beng (a.k.a. Ngan/Ngen), but she also has knowledge about many other ethnic groups across the country. Her expertise lies especially in daily rural life and cultural practices, including family structure and expectations, gendered roles and practices, and religious practices and expectations. Dr Gottlieb has served as an expert witness for several asylum cases from Côte d’Ivoire. If she is unable to provide expert knowledge about a particular topic, she may be able to refer you to a colleague who has more relevant expertise.
Email: benlaw@email.arizona.edu
Professor of History at the University of Arizona
Benjamin N. Lawrance is the former Conable Chair in International Studies at Rochester Institute of Technology and is currently a professor of history at the University of Arizona.He has conducted field research in West Africa since 1997 and published extensively about political and social conditions. He has served as an expert witness in the asylum cases for over 130 West Africans in the US, Europe and Canada which have involved human trafficking, citizenship, statelessness, female genital cutting, gender issues, gender identity, ethnic and religious violence, and witchcraft accusations.
COI Resources
The following sections contain documents that can be consulted when looking for country of origin information.
This report serves the specific purpose of collating legally relevant information on conditions in countries of origin pertinent to the assessment of claims for asylum. It is not intended to be a general report on human rights conditions. The report is prepared within a specified time frame on the basis of publicly available documents as well as information provided by experts.
All sources are cited and fully referenced. This report is not, and does not purport to be, either exhaustive with regard to conditions in the country surveyed, or conclusive as to the merits of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Every effort has been made to compile information from reliable sources; users should refer to the full text of documents cited and assess the credibility, relevance and timeliness of source material with reference to the specific research concerns arising from individual applications.
‘The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire (or Ivory Coast) is a country located in West Africa with a total area of 322,463 sq km. Its capital is Yamoussoukro. The country shares a border with Liberia and Guinea in the west, Mali and Burkina Faso in the
north, as well as Ghana in the east. Ivory Coast’s southern border comprises of a coastal region along the Gulf of Guinea. The official language in Ivory Coast is French, though there are sixty different native dialects spoken. Of these dialects, Dioula is the most commonly spoken. In 2015, Ivory Coast had an estimated population of 22.7 million. The majority of the population lives in
cities near the coast along the Gulf of Guinea as well as in southern forested regions. While the rest of the country is largely uninhabited, small parts of the population can also be found along central transportation route in the north of Ivory
Coast.’
‘Cote d’Ivoire is a democratic republic governed by a president. Elections in March 2021 for the 255 seats of the National Assembly, one of the country’s two legislative bodies, were considered free and fair, and all major political parties
participated. The president was re-elected for a third term in 2020 under conditions generally considered free, although some international observers questioned the fairness of the overall electoral process. Some observers found the process to be satisfactory while others concluded it did not allow for genuine competition.’
Cote d'Ivoire Legal Assistance
Find organisations offering legal and other types of assistance to refugees in Cote d'Ivoire.
Cote d'Ivoire LGBTQI+ Resources
Find organisations working for refugee LGBTQI+ rights in Cote d'Ivoire.
We are always looking to expand the resources on our platform. If you know about relevant experts, or you are aware of organisations and/or resources to include in our directories, please get in touch.
Last updated June 2023