On behalf of His Excellency Mr. Pierre Nkurunziza,
President of Burundi, and the people of Burundi as a
whole, I would first like to offer warm congratulations
to you, Sam Kutesa, a son of Africa, for your election
by acclamation on 11 June as President of the General
Assembly at its current session. I would also like to
acknowledge the remarkable work of His Excellency
Mr. John Ashe, who presided over the Assembly at
its sixty-eighth session, which he closed in this newly
renovated Hall. And I take this opportunity to reiterate
our gratitude to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
for his untiring efforts to improve the functioning
of the Organization and for the results attained in a
particularly difficult socioeconomic context.
At this important moment, when delegations from
many different parts of the globe have come together,
we would like to express our appreciation for the
theme of the sixty-ninth session, “Delivering on and
implementing a transformative post-2015 development
agenda”. It comes at just the right time, since we are
slowly but surely and inexorably approaching the
deadline for achieving the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs).
Beyond that, I would also like to welcome the
priorities that you have already set, Mr. President,
which focus on eradicating poverty and hunger and
promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
As the authors of the report of the high-level group
established to make recommendations on the post-
2015 development programme put it, the theme chosen
and your priorities are simultaneously ambitious and
pragmatic. The report cites intense discussions in every
region and in many sectors, especially on those living
in poverty. The same team fosters the hope that our
generation will be able to produce the transformations
needed to end the poverty that is devastating people all
over our planet.
We should therefore emphasize that however
ambitious the group’s recommendations may be, they
should also take into account the realities on the ground
and the fact that the transformative changes linked to
the goals and indicative targets — those coming out
of discussions with 5,000 civil society organizations,
250 leaders of major businesses and the scientific and
academic communities, along with national, regional
and international consultations — can contribute
to reducing hunger and poverty around the world by
generating tangible economic growth that can be
equitably shared in order to achieve the well-being we
seek.
The Millennium Development Goals were a pact of
global socioeconomic solidarity for our countries. Like
other nations in Africa and elsewhere, Burundi has
great respect for those Goals. As the aforementioned
group has rightly pointed out, the fastest reduction in
poverty in the history of the world occurred during the
first 13 years of the new millennium. The same group
notes that the number of people living on $1.25 a day
has fallen, and child mortality has declined by 30 per
cent since the 2000 Millennium Declaration (resolution
55/2), while deaths attributable to malaria have been
reduced by one quarter.
While we should note that not every country can
boast the same progress, Burundi shares the belief that
it would be wrong for us to abandon the MDGs and start
over at zero. On the contrary, we should continue the
reforms that have produced the unprecedented progress,
which is unquestionably the result of improved policies
and commitment on a global scale aimed at meeting the
Millennium Development Goals. We should therefore
capitalize on them in order to profit further. We also
subscribe to the other declared priorities, including
the adoption of a post-2015 development agenda, the
strengthening of cooperation and reforming the United
Nations, as well as strengthening partnerships between
the United Nations and other bodies.
Although at the moment it seems clear that Burundi
will not be able to fully meet the established Goals, I
should point out that we have made undeniable progress
in the areas of education and health, thanks in particular
to our programmes of free education and medical care
for children under five and new mothers. Besides the
3,000 classrooms and many health centres built over the
past few years, we have seen positive results in other
sectors, too.
In the area of education, many young Burundians,
including girls, who had no access to schooling in the
past are now attending school. In the area of health care,
we have reduced child and maternal mortality, and we
are working on stabilizing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS
and meeting the eligibility requirements for the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. We
delivered accounts of those efforts at the Assembly’s
sixty-eighth session, as well as of the reduction of
deaths due to malaria.
On the political front, as we indicated in our address
to the Assembly at the sixty-eighth session, Burundi has
been working on the process we committed to months
ago for holding presidential and general elections,
scheduled to begin in May 2015. In that regard, it is
important to note that after the holding of successive
elections in 2005 and 2010, with support from the
United Nations and other partners, the entire political
class, through the leaders of the authorized political
parties and other parties, agreed in March 2013 on a
road map for the next elections.
In that regard, one must add that, thanks to
that extremely valuable instrument, which should
help the Burundian political parties in the holding
of transparent, free and democratic elections, the
Burundian Parliament adopted the electoral code by
consensus. Subsequently, the Head of State promulgated
it, as prescribed by our Constitution, which is the fruit
of the Arusha Agreement of 2000, to which Burundi
attaches great importance. Moreover, the electoral
calendar was announced last June by the Independent
National Electoral Commission, itself established after
consultations and agreement among the political parties
involved in the matter.
We can therefore say that things are moving
and progressing well in my country. I also wish to
reaffirm loud and clear what the Head of State, His
Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza, often reiterates, that
the 2015 elections will be held in better conditions than
previous elections and that success will be complete.
The Burundian people have suffered so much from the
violence that has plunged many families into mourning
that we cannot afford to relapse into the errors of the
past. Indeed, we made the firm commitment to bury
the hatchet once and for all. That is why we have made
our own the words of former Indian politician Mahatma
Gandhi: “I object to violence because when it appears
to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does
is permanent”.
With regard to good governance, my delegation
would like to return to the institutions established
during the current legislature session. The tools for
improving good governance include the National
Independent Human Rights Commmission and the
institution of the Ombudsman, whose performance is
deemed satisfactory by many of our compatriots. A
national strategy on good governance and on the fight
against poverty for 2011-2015 has been adopted and is
being implemented.
Of course, we are far from achieving the expected
results, but in Burundi and elsewhere it is a long-
term undertaking. What is important is that there
is the political will to always move forward and
meet the challenge of zero tolerance in this area
eventually. In addition, performance contracts have
been signed by members of the Government and by the
senior Government officials in order to improve the
functioning of our Administration. The establishment
of the Burundi Revenue Authority has improved State
revenues and reduced corruption, which was also once a
common practice in our tax administration and business
circles. Here too, one must point out that perfection is
not yet at hand, but there is the determination and the
will to resolve the scourge of corruption for good.
As for the Truth and Recon.iliation Commission
envisaged by the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation
Accord, the relevant law has already been passed by
Parliament. Consultations are under way to elect its
11 commissioners, on the understanding that the filing
of nominations was closed in July 2014, and an ad hoc
committee for the selection of candidates has just been
set up by general consensus.
Concerning the participation of women in political
life, we have strengthened the number of women in
the country’s institutions, even going beyond the
constitutional provisions in that area. The Burundian
delegation provided the figures in its statement last
year.
With respect to the peacebuilding programme in
Burundi, the coordination mechanisms, such as the
coordination group of partners, hold their meetings
through appropriate structures, such as clusters,
strategic forums and policy forums. The same is true
for the coordination of assistance, for which Burundi
adopted the same structures.
The mandate of the United Nations Office in
Burundi will end on 31 December, and the Office will
transfer its responsibilities to a United Nations country
team in Burundi, preparations for which are in full
swing. A joint transition programme was presented to
the appropriate body on 14 May in the United Nations
Office. Also, a joint steering committee and a technical
transition team were established and are functioning
according to their mandate.
Finally, also in the context of peace consolidation,
a third phase of that programme, coverning the period
2014 to 2016, will soon become operational. The themes
of the programme have already been adopted by the
relevant authorities.
On the economic front, Burundi has held two
sectoral conferences on priority areas, one in July
2013 and the other in October. Their purpose was to
decide, together with bilateral partners, on ways and
means to implement the commitments made by each
at the conference of Burundi’s development partners
held in Geneva in October 2012. The areas deemed
priorities were drawn from two strategic instruments:
the Burundi Vision 2025 and the Strategic Framework
for Growth and the Fight against Corruption, Second
Generation.
The first instrument is for long-term development
planning and projects Burundi’s image in 2025. It
should guide policies and strategies for sustainable
development from the perspective of meeting the
needs of present generations without hampering
or compromising future generations. The second
instrument — the Strategic Framework for Growth
and the Fight against Poverty, Second Generation — is
anchored in Vision 2025. It is the unifying framework
for all sectoral and multisectoral policies, breaking the
strategic pillars of the Vision Burundi 2025 down into
projects and programmes.
The results obtained in the economic sphere are
rather mixed. That is why the Government would
again like to make an urgent appeal from this rostrum
to the partners represented here that they honour the
commitments made at the Geneva conference of 2012.
Regarding Burundi’s post-2015 development
programme, the following areas have been identified.
They are: governance, inequalities, conflicts and
fragility; economic growth and employment; energy,
water and environmental sustainability; access to basic
social services; and population dynamics and food
security. That agenda was the result of an extensive
national consultation that included all segments of the
population. On its face, it can be seen to be a programme
rooted in the continuity of change, well grounded in the
transformative development of the lives of our people
and consistent with the theme for this session of the
Assembly.
Even if regional integration does not seem to be
explicitly laid out in the programme, I would like to
convey to all present that regional integration is a matter
to which Burundi is firmly committed and which it
considers to be a common thread linking the various
policy areas, with the potential to provide appropriate
responses to the challenges that our country faces.
At the international level, conflicts continue to
tear a number of countries apart and to undermine
development efforts in many others. We must mobilize
our energies and work in synergy to end and eliminate
such threats as terrorism, transnational organized
crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking and others.
In that regard, Burundi is striving, as much as possible,
to do its part to help maintain peace and security in the
world.
Burundi was one of two countries in Africa and
the world that decided to intervene in Somalia as part
of the African Union Mission in 2008, and we continue
to strive to contribute to the stabilization of that
country to this day. In that regard, Burundi is proud
of the progress made towards normalization in Somali,
which promises a better future for Somalia. However,
the success achieved should not obscure the enormous
challenges still facing Somalia. Burundi is committed
to working with the other partners to address them.
Burundi has also participated in peacekeeping
operations in other countries, including the Central
African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, the Sudan and
Syria, to name but a few.
With regard to Mali, we are greatly satisfied that
territorial integrity has been restored in that country
and that the presidential elections held there were a
success.
Regarding the conflict in the Middle East, Burundi,
like other members of the international community,
is deeply concerned about the deteriorating security
situation in the region observed in recent weeks. That is
why we urge all parties to stop armed attacks, to avoid
the loss of human life and to seek negotiated settlements
to their disputes.
Finally, with regard to the Ebola crisis, we, like
other African countries, are very concerned about
the rapid spread of the Ebola virus, as was vividly
described by many representatives during the Security
Council meeting of 18 September (see S/PV.7268).
We congratulate the Council on its adoption on
18 September of resolution 2177 (2014) on the Ebola
crisis, at the initiative of the United States of America.
My delegation is proud to have sponsored the resolution,
along with 134 other States, early in its development.
With regard to South Sudan, we urgently call on
all parties to the conflict to break the cycle of violence
and resolve their differences through political dialogue.
In that connection, we are pleased to announce that
Burundi has promised an infantry battalion of 850 men
to help that young State to restore peace and security.
I also wish to inform the Assembly that Burundi
has made progress regarding the implementation
of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in
general and in the areas of education and health in
particular. However, despite my country’s efforts to
accelerate actions to honour the commitments made
at the Millennium Summit in 2000, the international
economic climate, and that in Burundi in particular,
has not been favourable for their attainment. The
Government of Burundi remains committed, however,
to the development goals programme and will continue
to work beyond 2015 to redouble its efforts to safeguard
and strengthen the principles and values contained in
the Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2), which
is a solid foundation for the post-2015 development
programme.