A glimpse of the Forum Nation sur la Dette et la Pauvreté (FNDP)

The Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (CSPPS), in direct collaboration with its members, is publishing a new series of articles highlighting their work.

Curious to learn more about our colleagues in Côte d'Ivoire? This week, we spoke with Mr. Yoro Bi Ta Raymond, a member of the CSPPS national team in Côte d'Ivoire. He told us about his organisation, its activities, and its efforts in support of peace.

An introduction of the Forum National sur la Dette et la Pauvreté

The Forum National sur la Dette et la Pauvreté (FNDP) advocates and builds capacity by raising public awareness about the impact of Côte d’Ivoire’s external debt. FNDP’s activities aim to promote peacebuilding in Côte d’Ivoire. The forum places particular importance on dialogue as a means of conflict resolution. It prioritizes dialogue between organizations and communities to enable them to engage with and participate in government-led projects that affect the living conditions of Ivorians, including the management of funds, water, resources, and more. FNDP’s core activity supports social peace, based on an agreement between the Ivorian government and trade union organizations.

When it was established in April 2001, the FNDP brought together around twenty organizations, including five trade union federations. Among them, Centrale Syndicale Humanisme has been the most active since the Restructuring General Assembly held in April 2022 in Jacqueville. It includes 224 grassroots unions, with 622,000 members across 24 sectors of activity.

Due to the crises in 2002 and then 2011, the work of civil society organizations was limited and mainly concentrated in Abidjan. Yoro Bi Ta Raymond, President of the FNDP Executive Board, personally experienced exile in Benin (2004–2010) after denouncing the murder of a student by members of the Ivorian Student and School Federation (FESCI) on June 23, 2004. After returning to Côte d’Ivoire, he has expressed a strong desire to help build a more peaceful society and contribute to this dynamic across the West African region. He was also the initiator of the Benin Social Forum in 2004.

Later, during the social crisis of 2019, the experience of the FNDP Executive President made it possible to find solutions to the demands of workers in the Education and Training sector through dialogue, rather than through strikes. We were involved in setting up other consultation platforms. The convergence of civil society organizations (CSOs) led activities in collaboration with the government of Côte d’Ivoire to promote national cohesion. Building on this experience, the FNDP President is currently overseeing and monitoring the Social Truce (2022–2027). In 2025, we will be taking part in the West African Social Forum in Dakar (June 26, 27, and 28, 2025) and the World Social Forum, which will be held in Benin in January 2026.

FNDP Project for 2025: The Presidential Elections

The Presidential Elections will be held on October 25, 2025. Some potential candidates have been removed from the electoral list for various reasons, and their supporters are demanding their reinstatement before the elections. This situation creates a sense of uncertainty surrounding the electoral process.

The FNDP sees this as a critical opportunity to help build a lasting democratic culture and to strengthen peace. During our CSPPS Code of Conduct engagement meeting held in May 2025, we committed to the initiative "Operation: Elections Without Violence and Zero Deaths", through a coordinated mobilization campaign led by civil society actors. This is our main advocacy effort for 2025. The project is spearheaded by CSPPS Côte d’Ivoire in collaboration with other Ivorian civil society organizations. A key meeting is scheduled for May 15, 2025, to foster unity and mutual understanding among Ivorians in the context of the upcoming elections.

Engagement with CSPPS in Côte d'Ivoire

The partnership with CSPPS enables the country team to broaden its advocacy and develop its activities on a larger scale. CSPPS allows for the redefinition and maintenance of a fairer and more equitable relationship between the Global North and South. It brings together consultations, exchanges, and partnerships. CSPPS plays a crucial supporting and guiding role, which is something we deeply value. CSPPS is a platform that helps highlight our activities and initiatives. It is essential to avoid imposing development aid and instead include the South in decision-making mechanisms for a paradigm shift. In this context, the partnership with CSPPS is particularly relevant and appreciated: we believe that this kind of dynamic should become more systematic. The team aims to create a space for discussion during CSPPS meetings to share this project and strengthen partnerships around this key initiative. We hope that CSPPS will accompany us in all efforts towards building Another Possible World.