Classes and Castes. While the growing economy of Côte d'Ivoire has greatly improved the quality of life for some citizens, gross financial inequality exists. High population growth coupled with the economic stagnation of the 1980s and early 1990s resulted in a steady fall in living standards overall. Access to land, housing, secondary education, and jobs are the key determinants of social mobility in Ivoirian society, which allows for a wealthy, urban minority to receive most of society's benefits. The vast majority of the population is poor; 1998 statistics indicate that at least 60 percent of the country's active population is unemployed and most of those who have jobs earn wages that are not enough to cover their basic monthly expenses. When Gross Domestic Product declined by an average 2.7 percent between 1985 and 1990, the proportion of the population in poverty increased from 14 percent to 20 percent. The Ivoirian middle class is still a small minority—primarily traders, administrators, teachers, nurses, artisans, and successful farmers—whose opportunity for social mobility is fairly limited.
Symbols of Social Stratification. Urban housing is a measure of status, since most urban land concessions are granted to people in government and administration and to their relatives and clients. Secondary education is also an important urban resource and vehicle of social mobility. Although primary schools are found throughout the country, secondary schooling is an urban activity, channelling graduates into urban occupations in medical and legal fields. By the 1990s, employment had become the most significant indicator of social status. Like many other nations, consumer goods are another prominent symbol of social stratification, especially for the city population. Among the administrative and civil-servant class, imported cars and clothes, home furnishings, and broad cultural and recreational activities mark a high standard of living.
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The International Criminal Court ordered Ivory Coast to hand over the country’s former first lady, Simone Gbagbo, to face charges of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and persecution. Her husband, former President Laurent Gbagbo, has already spent three years in the court’s prison in The Hague on similar charges. His trial is scheduled to start in six months. Also, the judges ordered a third member of Mr. Gbagbo’s inner circle, Charles Blé Goudé, to stand trial. He is also in prison in The Hague. Ivory Coast has insisted that it wants to try Ms. Gbagbo at home, but the international judges said that the government had not taken sufficient steps to prosecute her. She has been under house arrest. The three are accused of conspiring to organize acts of violence after Mr. Gbagbo lost the 2010 election and refused to step down. About 3,000 people died in a brief civil war after the election. International prosecutors say they are still investigating supporters of the current president, Alassane Ouattara, in connection with the violence but have not yet filed any charges.
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