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ePaper created 2015-12-01, 11:32:17 | version 1.43.00
Sociologist Kora Gouré Bi has been committed to Western Africa ever since her first visit to the region; as a student she spent time in Ghana and Burkina Faso, and her career has tak- en her to Mali, Benin, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire. She loves the ‘warm, open attitude of the people here and their positive ap- proach to life.’ She describes herself as a generalist, saying ‘I’ve had a lot of different jobs, ranging from development worker to country director. Being able to speak French makes it easy for me.’ Since 2012 she has been living and working in Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, a city she knows well from a previous post. As project manager, she works with her team to support the authorities in collecting illegal weapons, registering legal firearms and training the Ivorian security forces. The country is part of the Economic Community of West African States, which has comparatively strict regulations regarding weapons imports. This is one of the issues that Gouré Bi and her colleagues re- port on to international organisations such as the United Na- tions in New York; she considers international exchange to be ‘an important factor in arms control.’ Back in Abidjan, she is delighted by the progress that Côte d’Ivoire has made over the last few years, noting that ‘the hospitals here are well- equipped, and there are no power or water outages. Life in Abidjan has become safer, easier and more comfortable.’ Expert on Western Africa GIZ is always looking for experts for its projects. Interested? Why not visit our ‘Jobs and careers’ page: www.giz.de/careers. Kora Gouré Bi, INTRODUCING