Awwal 11, 1432 / April 15, 2011, SPA -- The United Nations on Thursday appealed for more than $300 to provide aid for strife-ridden Ivory Coast and neighboring Liberia where tens of thousands of refugees have fled. Some $160 million will go to Ivory Coast where strongman Laurent Gbagbo was detained this week, ending a four-month battle over political standoff in the country. About $146.5 million will go to aid operations in Liberia where more than 130,000 Ivorians fled the unrest. The appeal aims to provide food and water, education and health care for up to two million people throughout Ivory Coast, particularly in Abidjan and the west of the country where hundreds of people were killed in the strife, said the U.N. humanitarian agency. "The humanitarian crisis is not yet over," U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Ivory Coast Ndolamb Ngokwey said in a statement. "All across the country, it will take many months to restore people's dignity and rebuild livelihoods. Aid agencies will be here as long as it will take but we need to start now. We are asking for only 74 dollars for each person affected," Ngokwey said. Incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down following November presidential polls which U.N. certified results showed were won by his rival Alassane Ouattara. Ouattara's troops, backed by U.N. peacekeepers and French troops, stormed Gabgbo's compound in Abidjan and arrested the former president along with his wife and others. The U.N.'s special envoy for the Ivory Coast, Y.J. Choi, said on Thursday that the country was recovering from the standoff as Ouattara assumes full control of the West African nation.
