Some milestones were achieved in terms of implementing military reform provisions after the CCI was established in 2007. However, due to financial difficulty, the Integrated Command Center was unable to fully deploy 8,000 personnel in mixed brigades. Out of these 8,000 personnel, a total of 6,600 were able to be deployed on election day.¹ After rank harmonization took place in November 2009, 3,629 Forces Nouvelles combatants were integrated into the new army. Initially, parties had agreed to integrate 5,000 Forces Nouvelles combatants.²

The CCI had been established, as provisioned for in the accord, but implementation of other military reform provisions had stalled. Due to financial difficulty, the Integrated Command Center was unable to fully deploy 8,000 personnel (4,000 from the Forces Nouvelles and 4,000 from the Ivorian police and gendarmerie) in mixed brigades.² Both sides had agreed to integrate 5,000 Forces Nouvelles combatants into the national army; however, the rank harmonization process hindered progress towards integration. Nevertheless, President Gbagbo signed several decrees on 16 November 2009 intended to resolve rank harmonization issues. By a presidential decree, Forces Nouvelles Chief of Staff, General Soumaila Bakayoko, and the Prime Minister’s Military Adviser, Colonel Michel Gueu, were promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General.³ This resolved the technical issue of integrating Forces Nouvelles combatants into the national army.

The strength of the Integrated Command Center, comprised of government and Forces Nouvelles personnel, stood at 587. Among the 587 officers from both sides, 390 were deployed in the former zones of confidence and 197 were based at the headquarters.⁴ Initially parties could not agree on the number of Forces Nouvelles combatants to be integrated into the new armed force nor the rank to be provided to former Forces Nouvelles combatants. In the end, they reached an agreement on the integration of 5,000 Forces Nouvelles combatants into the new armed force.⁵ The integration was expected to take place within two years.⁶

The Ouagadougou Political Agreement contained a provision for restructuring and reorganizing two armed forces (Defence and Security Forces (FDS) and Forces Nouvelles) for the creation of a new Defence and Security Forces. For this to happen, the agreement suggested enacting a law for the general framework of the organization, its composition, and its operation. For the integration of the two armed forces, the accord provided for the establishment of an Integrated Command Centre (CCI), comprised of equal numbers of officers designated by two Chiefs of Staff.

In terms of implementing the military reform provision of the agreement, President Laurent Gbagbo signed a decree on 16 March 2007 to create the CCI for the purpose of deploying mixed units comprised of equal numbers of officers from both sides and integrating both armed forces into one.⁷ The formal establishment of the CCI took place a month later on 16 April.⁸ After the establishment of CCI, six joint police units consisting of personnel from Forces Nouvelles and FDS were deployed in six different locations by 15 September. By the time of the deployment of these units, the zones of confidence were also dismantled.⁹

In terms of restructuring and reorganizing the Defence and Security Forces and integrating the two armed forces, both sides finally agreed to integrate 5,000 Forces Nouvelles out of an estimated force of 35,000. This agreement was reached when the two chiefs of staff met on 14 and 17 December 2007 in the presence of the Force Commanders of the United Nations Operation in C™te d’Ivoire (UNOCI), the French Licorne force, and the coordinator of the National Programme for Reintegration and Community Rehabilitation (NPRRC). Due to the absence of an agreement on the number of Forces Nouvelles troops to be integrated into the national army, Forces Nouvelles combatants who were deployed under the joint units had not received their salaries.¹⁰

No further developments observed.

No further developments observed.

No further developments observed.

The Permanent Consultative Framework became obsolete after presidential elections in 2010. Holding presidential elections signified the successful implementation of the accord’s provision, and the CPC played an important role in this regard.

There was no information regarding the activities of the Permanent Consultative Framework in 2010. This could be related to disputes related to the runoff presidential elections that essentially made the multiparty framework obsolete. Nevertheless, establishing the framework early in the implementation process was critical for the successful implementation of the accord.

The CPC had its meeting on 21 September 2010. Along with welcoming the validation of the voter list by the Independent Electoral Commission, it also welcomed the presidential decree to distribute 5,725,720 national identity cards, along with allowing an estimated 55,000 persons to submit identity documents.¹¹