The US State Department (IRFR 2022 Ivory Coast) states, “Muslim and Christian leaders, including representatives of the Supreme Council of Imams, Mosques, and Islamic Affairs of Cote d’Ivoire (COSIM, the country’s main Sunni Muslim association) and the Catholic, evangelical Christian, and Methodist Churches, reported generally good relations with each other and among their communities, although there were two reported instances of local Christian and Muslim groups disagreeing over the use of land to build additional churches. Additionally, there were two localized conflicts between animists and a Christian denomination over the right to hold Christian worship services at the same time as certain animist ceremonies. The incidents involved vandalism against churches. In one case, a Christian suffered a broken collarbone.”
“Many individuals who identify as Christian or Muslim also practice some aspects of indigenous religious beliefs.”
“During 2022, the Muslim community, led by the National Platform for Islamic Education, successfully advocated increased accreditation of Islamic schools. The platform coordinated evaluations of 3,416 schools during the year, 547 of which received accreditation, affecting approximately 105,000 students. In addition, the Ministry of National Education and Literacy trained 2,406 Islamic school teachers on how to implement the standard national curriculum. The platform expressed optimism that the number of accredited Islamic schools would continue to grow in coming years. Islamic schools, unlike the majority of Christian schools, historically operated without formal accreditation from the Ministry of National Education and Literacy.”
It is risky for Christians with a background in Islam or traditional African religions (ATR) living with non-Christian family members to make their conversion known. The region is facing unprecedented jihadist expansion and the form of Islamic teaching that is destabilizing other West African countries is also becoming more common in Ivory Coast.
The fact that politics also has links with religion – i.e. northerners (Muslim) vs. southerners (Christian) – any political disagreement or crisis immediately bears religious connotations and hence puts Christians in a vulnerable position. At the local level, government officials are known to discriminate against Christians in the Muslim-majority northern part of the country.
Converts to Christianity in the north face social ostracization and expulsion from their communities.
Converts also encounter difficulties in obtaining land to build churches, indicating a level of institutional discrimination.
Government authorities have been known to intimidate pastors, regulating what they can and cannot preach, thereby limiting religious freedom.
In the western part of the country, Christians are often requested by animist groups to stay home during their ‘mask holidays’, thus marginalizing them from public and cultural life.
Acts of vandalism against churches have been reported in various regions, contributing to a sense of insecurity and tension within Christian communities.
