Praise be to God the Almighty, who has allowed us to meet in the magnificent city of New York to participate in our Organization’s current session.
I would like to begin by expressing my warmest congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Abdulla Shahid on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session. Burundi assures you, Sir, of its full and unreserved cooperation and wishes you every success and happiness, both professionally and personally, in the exercise of your mandate. I am also pleased to express my delegation’s deep gratitude to your predecessor, Ambassador Volkan Bozkir, for his outstanding work despite the extremely difficult circumstances owing to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
I would also like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt appreciation to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for what has been achieved in an international context marked by various violent crises and a fragile and struggling world economy. I wish him every success and good health in carrying out his duties during his second term.
I would be remiss, moreover, in failing to thank the Government and the people of the United States, especially the people of New York City, for their celebrated welcome and hospitality.
The seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly is being held as Burundi prepares to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of its independence and membership within the United Nations family next year. This is therefore the occasion to recall that the United Nations has played a great role in that regard.
From the end of the First World War until its independence, Burundi was administered under the mandate of the League of Nations, and subsequently the United Nations. The mismanagement of the colonial period had negative repercussions for Burundi — immediately following its independence, it experienced social conflicts characterized by repeated massacres that have still not completely healed. In keeping with the central theme of our general debate, we must restore the hope of our citizens.
In Burundi that means restoring hope in the face of not only the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic but also the consequences of the repeated crises that have been inflicted on the country with impunity. This session of the General Assembly therefore comes at an auspicious time for my country, Burundi, providing it a welcome opportunity to share with the Assembly the substantial progress made at the national, regional and international levels.
The restoration of peace, security, stability and social cohesion is today a reality in Burundi. The only enemy that continues to pose a threat to citizens — apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, which is our common enemy — is poverty. Together with every citizen, we are committed to combating poverty in order to achieve our goal: the well-being of the Burundian people. In order to achieve it, we have defined and included a number of priorities in the road map for Burundi’s national development plan for the period from 2018 to 2027, which is an ambitious and transformative programme to accelerate the socioeconomic development process that has been under way since 2018.
The first priority concerns good governance and social justice. To that end, combating corruption, financial malfeasance and impunity is one of the priorities of the Government, which has been recognized as being responsible and hard-working. In terms of the fight against impunity and the prevention of social conflicts, Burundi has put in place local justice mechanisms to allow rapid and equal access for all Burundians to justice. Efforts have also been made to ensure the independence and impartiality of
the judiciary by operationalizing the Supreme Council of Magistrates. It should be emphasized that, in the context of addressing the violent crimes of the past, the Government of Burundi is in the process of overseeing the transitional justice process for all victims in Burundi.
Turning to security, we highlight the issue of terrorism, regarding which successful efforts have unquestionably been made. At the same time, however, we must humbly acknowledge that we are far from having developed a shared, adequate and effective strategy to eradicate that scourge. At the strategic level, given the fact that there is no justification for terrorism, I remain convinced that, beyond the necessary military measures, effectively combating terrorism is predicated on countering radicalization, which is rooted in ignorance, poverty, youth unemployment and illiteracy.
The United Nations should therefore undertake measures to fight poverty and impose severe sanctions against terrorist groups and all those who support them. From our perspective, we are concerned about the proliferation of terrorism in the subregion, for which those responsible, including the Allied Democratic Forces and the Resistance pour un Etat de droit au Burundi, based in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, recruit unemployed youth and indiscriminately kill peaceful and innocent citizens. I continue to believe that those groups pose a threat not only to our region but to all of humankind. In that regard, we must join forces to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
We also believe that the fight must be pursued with greater resolve and solidarity. In that context, since 2007 Burundi has provided the United Nations and the African Union with military and police contingents to contribute to the restoration and maintenance of security and peace in countries in need, such as Somalia and the Central African Republic.
Concerning the issue of human rights, Burundi strongly believes that human rights must be protected by transparent mechanisms, good governance, security and justice for all. Within the framework of monitoring the implementation of human rights protection principles, the international community should adhere to the fundamental principles of universality, transparency, impartiality, non-selectivity, non-politicization, objectivity and the rejection of double standards. In that regard, Burundi believes that the best way to promote and protect human rights is through cooperation, dialogue, technical assistance and the capacity-building of national human rights mechanisms.
We take this opportunity to ask partners, particularly within the Human Rights Council, to conduct a fair and objective review of the efforts Burundi has made together with other nations and to appreciate their true value. All attempts to single out Burundi as the object of special human rights mechanisms is simply counterproductive. As everyone is aware, Burundi has national mechanisms in place to defend, promote and protect human rights. In addition to the Independent National Commission on Human Rights, which has just regained its “A” status, we have the National Observatory for the prevention and eradication of genocide, war crimes and other crimes against humanity, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Council for National Unity and Reconciliation, the National Commission for Land and Other Properties and the institution of the Ombudsman.
In practice, the Government has focused on the protection of human rights, respect for democratic principles and the freedom of opinion, expression and the press. Much effort has also been made through the establishment of a virtually permanent dialogue among political parties, the media, civil society and the public authorities. That has allowed for the reopening of media sources that had been closed in the wake of the clashes, including the insurgency of 2015, the release of more than 5,000 prisoners through a presidential pardon and the participation of political parties and civil society in overseeing the political and social life of the country.
With regard to socioeconomic issues, like other countries, Burundi will be unable to move towards development without resolving issues related to health, education and attending to the needs of specific groups, such as young people, women and vulnerable and disadvantaged people.
In the health sector, the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been added to the list of virulent diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and others, is of concern to the Government of Burundi. Since the emergence of the first COVID-19 cases, Burundi has taken measures to prevent the spread and respond to the pandemic. All our strategies have made it possible to maintain a positive test rate of less than 4 per cent and avoid a large number of severe cases. The complex nature of the virus, however, calls for all nations of the world to carry out more innovative research to find a
united, collective, sustainable and eventually definitive solution to the pandemic, which afflicts all humankind.
In the same vein, Burundi also calls for international solidarity to save our citizens from other diseases that are preventing them from progress towards economic development. In that regard, the Government of Burundi has implemented a policy of free health care for children under five years of age and women who give birth in public health facilities. In addition, we are committed to providing every commune with at least one hospital so as to ensure local care for the entire Burundian population.
The first priority of our economic development is food security. Our goal is to ensure that every mouth is fed and that every citizen receives an income enabling him or her to meet other basic needs. That is why the State of Burundi has committed itself to supporting local cooperatives in combating poverty in every part of the country, a policy that has made Burundi one of the few countries that do not import foodstuffs.
The other priority is centred on education. Education for all is part and parcel of the United Nations agenda, and my country believes that it is indispensable to the sustainable development programme. At the outset, we ensured free basic education, enabling all children to attend school regardless of their social situation. Similarly, we decided to set up school infrastructure and trade education centres in every census area. We are currently at work on reforming the educational system so that it can provide technical and professional training, which will turn out young people with the technical ability and versatility required in all economic sector activities.
With regard to social protection, at stake are the issues related to the employability of young people and women and the improvement of the living conditions of people in vulnerable situations. To that end, Burundi encourages young people to be imaginative in initiating development projects and launched a large-scale programme to promote their economic empowerment and employment, in addition to the establishment of the Youth Investment Bank and the Investment Bank for Women. Moreover, in order to meet its goals pertaining to job creation and development, the State of Burundi, through the Impulse, Guarantee and Support Fund, offers a portion of guaranteed funding to profitable projects launched and managed by youth and women.
In addition to the priorities I mentioned, Burundi also focuses on the repatriation of refugees and care for retirees. Thanks to the restoration of peace and security, Burundian refugees, including political actors, have returned en masse and have been welcomed with love and dignity. Since July 2020, more than 75,000 refugees returned voluntarily, in addition to the more than 50,000 who returned without going through the specialized United Nations agencies. As for retirees, the overall main objective is to take care of the elderly, while ensuring their medical care and improving their pensions.
In order to renew hope for all citizens, this year the Government launched the National Programme on Peace Capitalization, Social Stability and the Promotion of Economic Growth. The Programme is expected to benefit from the support of all of Burundi’s development partners in order to boost socioeconomic development, capitalize on peace and ensure hope for citizens in Burundi in the aftermath of long periods of conflict.
Another priority requiring our efforts in the area of sustainable development — to which Burundi attaches great importance, with its adherence to some 20 related international conventions — is the protection of the environment. In that context, Burundi spares no effort in finding the means to finance projects related to biodiversity, water pollution control, soil protection, the protection of the ozone layer and organic pollutants, through its ambitious reforestation project, Ewe Burundi Urambaye, which means, “Burundi covered in its entirety”.
At the diplomatic level and with regard to cooperation, Burundi is committed to normalizing and promoting friendly and cooperative relations with its bilateral and multilateral partners and regaining its rightful place in the concert of nations. Accordingly, my country once again welcomes the historic decision by the Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council to remove Burundi from their political agendas in recognition of the return of peace, security and lasting stability in the country. Similarly, Burundi welcomes the progress already made in normalizing friendly and cooperative relations with the European Union and its States members through political dialogue conducted in a constructive and respectful spirit between the two parties.
With regard to relations in the continent, our country is pleased to have ratified the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area, the ultimate goal of which is to eventually integrate all 55 States members of the African Union into a single free-trade bloc — the overarching purpose of which is to meet the Agenda 2063 objective of creating a continental market with the free movement of people, goods and services, which is essential for strengthening economic integration. To that end, Burundi, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo together are on a better path towards initiating the railroad project that will link the port of Dar es Salaam to Burundi and the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
At the institutional level, Burundi supports the concerted efforts of the Secretary-General to reform the United Nations in order to revitalize our shared Organization and make it more effective, efficient, accountable and closer to the people of the world whom it serves. We enthusiastically welcome his report entitled Our Common Agenda, which he believes to be the starting point for our joint efforts. In that context, as the only continent not represented in the permanent membership of the Security Council, and underrepresented in the non-permanent category, Africa continues to suffer the historical injustice of exclusion in that organ, which is extremely important to all of us.
In conclusion, the State of Burundi reiterates its firm commitment to the principles and values enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, such as the sovereign equality of States and their territorial integrity, non-aggression, political independence and the settlement of disputes by peaceful means. The State of Burundi also reaffirms its faith in the fundamental human rights, social justice, the dignity and value of the human person and the equal rights of men and women and of nations.