 However, bilateral U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funding, with the exception of self-help and democratization funds, has been phased out.On hold is the cultural exchange the United States and Ivory Coast maintained, through which prominent Ivorian government officials, media representatives, educators and scholars visit the United States to become better acquainted with the American people and to exchange ideas and views with their American colleagues.Following the decision to bar the majority of parties from the October election, the United States removed all election observers and electoral funding.