Order of St John of Jerusalem of
Rhodes and of Malta
Cardinal Ignace BESSI, met during a previous visit, succeeded Mgr KUTWA last August, received the Ambassador. An overview was given of the year 2025 and the forthcoming elections, and the partnership between a French diocese and Abidjan was discussed.
Mr Pierre DIMBA received the Ambassador and the Director of St Jean-Baptiste Hospital, to sign the agreement between the Ivorian state and the St Jean-Baptiste association.
The visit to Madame Logboh Myss Belmonde Dogo was the first for Ambassador de Viviès. She was given a presentation of the Ordre de Malte and its activities in Côte d'Ivoire, and may come to Bodo as part of the next obstetric fistula treatment campaign.
Dr Liagui A OUATTARA received the Ambassador and Director of Hôpital St Jean-Baptiste to discuss the continuation of the obstetric fistula treatment program, which is due to end in 2024. The partnership between St Jean-Baptiste Hospital and UNFPA is working well, but the future should enable UNFPA to identify new financial partners, and the Hospital to define a complementary strategy.
Ambassador de Viviès took part, along with the First Secretary, the Hospital Director and his External Relations Manager, in an evening event organized by the European Chamber of Commerce, chaired by Dr DELMOTTE, in the presence of Minister Sidi TOURE, in charge of animal and fisheries resources; the follow-up to an ongoing project concerning corporate CSR was presented, and a meeting was possible with potential players for a partnership with the Hospital.
The new ambassador, SEM. Guillermo Marin Gorbea, received the Ambassador at the Chancellery, together with his Advisor. He knows the Order well, through the Spanish association and through the Order's ambassador to Morocco, where he was Consul General in Rabat. There is no shortage of common ground, with the presence of Spanish nuns in some of the dispensaries supported by the French association or by the association of Friends of the Order of Malta in Côte d'Ivoire, but also through the hundred or so Spanish companies present in the RCI.
Mr. Jean-Marc Yacé, Mayor of Cocody, received the Viviès ambassador to discuss the possibility of supporting a dispensary, following the visit of the President of the Ordre de Malte France in December 2023 ; a visit to the area enabled the new infrastructure to be visualized.
A visit was organized by the First Councillor to meet the Secretary General of the Benianh Foundation, Mr. Athjanase Ogou Okaingni. A visit to the St Jean-Baptiste hospital is planned in the near future to identify a partnership for the training and integration of women in the health sector.
Accompanied by the Director of Hôpital St Jean-Baptiste, the Ambassador met with CHU CEO Guillaume KOUADIO, Dr YAO from the pediatric oncology department, and Pr KONAN, head of the maxillofacial surgery department.