I would like to begin by expressing my warmest and most heartfelt congratulations to you, Sir, on your election as President of the United Nations General Assembly at its seventy-seventh session. I am confident that your vast experience, deep knowledge of the United Nations system and well-known commitment to multilateral diplomacy will ensure the success of your mandate. I also want to assure you of the full support of the delegation of Burkina Faso in your exercise of your burdensome duty and in the success of our work. My congratulations also go to your predecessor, Mr. Abdulla Shahid, for his admirable stewardship of the work of the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session. And I solemnly reaffirm Burkina Faso’s gratitude to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for his constant, resolute and renewed commitment to peace and security and development.
I would like to take the opportunity today in this Hall to welcome the holding of the Transforming Education Summit, which has enabled a broad mobilization of actors in the education arena. I dare to hope that the global commitment to the implementation of the Summit’s conclusions will contribute significantly to accelerating progress towards achieving quality education for all, particularly in the countries of the South.
The theme of the General Assembly at this session, “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges”, aptly highlights the urgency and the historic responsibility borne by the political, economic and social actors of our time in the face of the multiple crises facing our planet. While the world is gradually recovering from the coronavirus disease pandemic, other scourges — such as terrorism, intra- and inter-State conflicts and the humanitarian and food security crises they engender, along with climate change and its perverse effects — continue to blight daily life across the world. They serve as a reminder that we are fragile, individually and collectively, that countries and peoples are interdependent, and that international solidarity is urgently needed. If we want
to save humankind from collective and inescapable peril, we must not ignore that reminder.
The end of the Cold War gave us an opportunity to dream and to aspire to a world based on consensus, with a focus on the core values of peace, justice, freedom, democracy and solidarity. But that dream was an illusion, because for some time now we have unfortunately been seeing nationalism and inward-looking attitudes resurgent in certain parts of the planet, while freedom and democracy are shrinking in others. We have seen the readiness of certain countries to impose their world view on others. And we are seeing games of rivalry and confrontation play out between Powers as they vie for the political, military or economic control of certain parts of the world. Simply put, actors in the international community have been brazenly spreading a unipolar and monochromatic world view that reflects their own ideology and interests.
We urgently need to regroup and develop the inner strength to refrain from succumbing to those temptations. Let us instead emphasize a spirit of solidarity that is aimed at preserving our world’s diversity and realizing the principle of the interdependence of peoples, a world in which everyone can contribute to managing its affairs. Burkina Faso firmly believes that humankind’s chance of survival lies in accepting our differences and diversity and using them resourcefully. Far from being a source of antagonism or hostility, our differences and diversity represent an excellent opportunity to find complementarity and solidarity — a way of encouraging peaceful coexistence and sustainable development that costs us nothing.
The key challenges facing our world today are well known to everyone. They include primarily peace and security, democracy and sustainable development, climate change and environment and health and education. I want to emphasize that the only way we can meet those challenges is by working together. That is why we must try to extend our concerns beyond our individual and private interests, which are often factors in crises, in order to maintain peaceful relations with one another. I therefore call earnestly on all the actors of the international community, whether they are from the North or the South and regardless of the political, economic or military power they have, to take that approach.
Certain issues have recurred on the General Assembly’s plenary agenda for several years now, including Palestine, the Western Sahara, debt, climate change, the embargo on Cuba, the war in Ukraine and Security Council reform. In order to resolve each of those issues, on behalf of Burkina Faso I strongly recommend that we respected the rule of law, champion justice and equity and let common sense lead the way.
I would now like to say a few words about the situation in my country and the aim of the political transition currently under way, in connection with the General Assembly’s very relevant theme this session and the goals of the Charter of the United Nations. On 24 January, a group of young patriots felt compelled to take responsibility for the public management of the nation’s affairs in a natural response to a drift in political governance, growing insecurity in our country and the gradual and continuing disintegration of the State, and they did so by putting an end to a regime that while democratically elected was also mired in chaos. But we have no intention of justifying or promoting destabilizing practices or violating the constitutional order.
While the 24 January movement was technically illegal and perhaps contrary to principles dear to the United Nations and the international community as a whole, when we consider how things were being handled we believe it was necessary, indeed vital, to disrupt the constitutional order. It was a matter of our nation’s survival above all. That is why the movement, which is focused on safeguarding the territory and implementing reforms, enjoys genuine popular legitimacy among public opinion in our country, and that enthusiasm and popular support have continued for the transitional authorities, which I have been leading for eight months now.
The security situation in Burkina Faso began to deteriorate in 2015, before reaching a low point in 2020 and 2021. The recent events that disrupted my country’s march towards democracy have resulted from a failure to respond appropriately to the security crisis, as well as terrible political governance, which among other things led to the largest number of internally displaced persons in the political history of our country and subregion — 1,520,012 people as of 31 August. We are also facing a humanitarian and food crisis unprecedented in the country’s history, as well as the closure of several thousand schools, with half a million students deprived of education, and economic stagnation induced by the slowdown, if not total halt, in economic activity in a number of industries such as mining, tourism and hotels, as well as agriculture
and livestock farming and transportation. Those difficulties, which I have touched on briefly, are part of a wider subregional security context of attacks perpetrated by various terrorist groups operating in the Sahel, particularly in its centre, which includes Burkina Faso, Mali and the Niger.
Nevertheless, in order to deal with this, the transitional Government, relying largely on new internal initiatives, has shouldered its responsibilities by developing an action plan based on four strategic objectives — combating terrorism and restoring territorial integrity, responding to the humanitarian crisis, rebuilding the State and improving governance and ensuring national reconciliation and social cohesion. In order to achieve those objectives, we have launched some major initiatives.
The first is to restructure our national security apparatus and to take firm and vigorous action on the ground to combat terrorism and armed groups. The second is to combat radicalization, hate speech and the stigmatization of communities. The third is to implement a policy of de-radicalization and social and professional reintegration for reformed combatants from armed groups. The fourth is to support the resettlement and socioeconomic integration of internally displaced persons and those affected by terrorism. Lastly, we aim to combat corruption and promote justice, equity and education for peace and for our citizens.
However, Burkina Faso’s will and determination alone in combating terrorism will not be enough to make a long-lasting impact. The support of the international community is both crucial and expected, and it is particularly urgent for Burkina Faso, whose geographic position makes it a buffer zone for curbing the spread of terrorism to countries on the coast such as Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo. Ensuring stability, security and peace in the Sahel is not just a matter of concern for the countries of our region because the current situation in the Sahel countries, needless to say, is the result of terrorism’s migration from North Africa towards the South.
The current situation in the Sahel, a result of that cross-border impact, is a problem that is jeopardizing international peace and security. It is therefore important for the international community to understand it better and be more involved. The efforts that have been made so far are certainly welcome, but they fall short of what is needed, given the reality on the ground. In that context, I welcome the initiative that the Chairperson of the African Union and the Secretary-General of the United Nations have taken to mandate the former President of the Niger Mahamadou Issoufou to lead the joint African Union-United Nations Independent High-Level Panel on Security and Development in the Sahel, which should produce recommendations on how to strengthen the international response to the security crisis in the Sahel with a view to finding a comprehensive and lasting solution.
I appeal to our bilateral and multilateral technical and financial partners to support the transition action plan we adopted on 6 May. Burkina Faso is hoping for their support in order to close a gap of approximately $4.5 billion out of a total budget of about $18 billion. The Government has also begun developing an emergency transition programme, which will be devoted to priority projects, as well as innovative projects and others expected to significantly benefit people’s living conditions. We are therefore counting on our friends and partners to mobilize support to that end.
The transition authorities in Burkina Faso are aware of their responsibilities to our people and their duty to the international community, and I want to make it clear that we will not abandon those responsibilities. In that regard, on 3 July we agreed to a dynamic compromise with the Economic Community of West African States on the duration of the transition, which was set at 24 months from 1 July, and on the need to set up a transitional monitoring and evaluation mechanism based on indicators relating to security, the restoration of Government services to the occupied areas and the return of displaced persons.
I firmly believe that achieving significant progress in those three areas will help create the conditions for holding credible and transparent elections with a view to a return to a normal constitutional order. Such progress can be achieved only with the substantial support of the international community, for which I urge wholeheartedly from this rostrum today. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our bilateral, multilateral and private technical and financial partners who are supporting us or have promised to do so. I would also like to invite those that have not yet done so to join us and support us as we strive to rebuild and strengthen the economic, social and security fabric of the country.
The peoples of our planet, rich or poor, powerful or weak, need a secure and peaceful world in which all can live in peace and fully exercise their rights.
The Sahel is currently riddled with armed groups that are causing devastation all over the globe. They threaten the security both of the region and the rest of the world. If nothing is decisively and urgently done to help our countries, we may see terrorism flare up in the countries of the Gulf of Guinea and then the rest of the world — starting with Europe, the continent closest to Africa. Nor will any precautionary or preventive measure be able to prevent terrorism from spreading to the other side of the Atlantic if the Sahel is left to its fate. And as long as the young people of the Sahel and neighbouring countries no longer have hope in their own lands, nothing will be able to prevent them from attempting the perilous migration to Europe via the Sahara and the Mediterranean.
Against the backdrop of terrorism-inflicted misery in the region, the Sahel has become a stage for futile rivalries and shameful greed, which make the situation even worse. The countries of the Sahel deserve better than this and need solidarity and help — but not just any help. We need help that enables us to no longer ask for help — the kind that will make our need for help obsolete. And we need it to be consistent with our beliefs and to respect our dignity.
I would like to conclude my remarks by urging all the actors of the international community to show greater solidarity with one another, because that is the best way to address the challenges of our time and preserve the interests of all. Raoul Follereau said that no one has the right to be happy all by themselves.
Let us therefore make sure that there are no more malnourished children without education or instruction; that there are no more young people without training or jobs; that there are no more peasants without land to live in dignity; that there are no more workers whose rights are trampled; that the abundance of some is not the cause of the destitution of others; that force does not prevail over truth and justice; and finally, that the reasons of our selfishness never prevail over the demands of the dignity of humankind and peoples.
I vow that Burkina Faso will spare no effort to make its contribution to the building of a better, peaceful, united and prosperous world.