The UN General Assembly has formally recognised Alassane Ouattara as the winner of Ivory Coast's disputed presidential election.
The move came ahead of a meeting of West African heads of state to urge President Laurent Gbagbo to step aside.
Earlier, the region's central bank handed over control of Ivory Coast's accounts to Mr Ouattara.
Correspondents say the moves are increasing the isolation of Mr Gbagbo, who has insisted that he won the vote.
The decision of the Central Bank of West African States could make it difficult for the incumbent president to pay the army.
Violence since disputed election in November has left 173 people dead in Ivory Coast.
A senior UN official said its investigators had also found evidence of extrajudicial executions, more than 90 cases of torture and 500 arrests, as well as abductions, kidnappings, acts of sexual violence, and destruction of property.
The 28 November poll was meant to unite the country after a civil war in 2002 split the world's largest cocoa producer in two.
The country's electoral commission ruled that Mr Ouattara had won, but the Constitutional Council said Mr Gbagbo had been elected, citing vote-rigging in some northern areas.
The UN, which has about 10,000 peacekeepers in the country overseeing the peace process, has backed Mr Ouattara as the winner.
He was given a further boost on Thursday when the General Assembly unanimously decided to recognise his choice of diplomats as the sole official representatives of Ivory Coast to the UN. BBC News
