Burundi

Allow me first of all to convey to the Assembly the warm and fraternal greetings of His Excellency Mr. Pierre Nkurunziza, who has just been re-elected for a second term of five years. He had planned to take part in these meetings himself, but the Unity International Foundation insisted on awarding him the Rising Star of Africa prize for his role in building and promoting peace, and that led him to delegate attending the High-level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals and the general debate of the Assembly’s sixty-fifth session to me. We wish to congratulate the President of the Assembly at its sixty-fifth session and to reiterate the thanks of the Burundi delegation to his predecessor for his remarkable work. We also pay due tribute to our Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his involvement in the follow-up to Assembly resolutions and for the important guidance that he continues to give our Organization. His visit to Burundi on 9 June 2010 is a clear sign of his commitment to peacebuilding and to strengthening the democracy regained in our country at great cost. Burundi is participating in the sixty-fifth session following the top-to-bottom renewal of national institutions. For the first time in Burundi’s history, the democratically elected institutions have completed their term of office. That powerfully demonstrates the political maturity and resolve of the people of Burundi to break with the turbulent past in order to invest in the peace, stability and reconciliation that are prerequisites to sustainable development. We take this opportunity to reiterate the thanks of the Government and people of Burundi for the role of the international community, the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, the European Parliament, the East African Community, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Economic Community of Central African States, friendly countries and various organizations in participating in the funding and observation of the aforementioned elections, which were peaceful, transparent and fair and in accordance with international standards. For its part, the party that won the elections is aware of the absolute need to promote national reconciliation and political tolerance as much as it can. From the day after the first round of the election and then in his inaugural speech, the President of the Republic himself expressed his resolve and that of the winning party to govern Burundi for and with all the people of Burundi. Furthermore, Burundi’s Constitution also provides for political inclusion mechanisms in managing the State’s affairs. During the new Parliament, the Government of Burundi is committed to following its peacebuilding programme and strengthening security for all, in particular by completing disarmament of the civilian population and the socio-economic reinsertion of demobilized individuals and returnees. Furthermore, the Government of Burundi will particularly emphasize regional cooperation and integration, as well as enhancing security in its geographical area, together with neighbouring countries. Promoting good governance in its various dimensions is also one of the main concerns of Burundi’s Government. With regard to political governance, it will continue to promote the rights of political parties, including by strengthening the spirit of dialogue between political partners. With respect to economic governance, there will be efforts to improve business conditions to encourage both national and foreign investment. The Government of Burundi reaffirms its determination and zero- tolerance commitment to combat financial corruption and fraud. In the area of the judiciary, every possible effort will be made to combat impunity with respect to any type of crime, and transitional justice will be promoted during this Parliament. Concerning socio-economic development, the Government of Burundi will focus every effort possible on combating poverty, in particular through development of priority production sectors, namely, agriculture and livestock, energy, social infrastructure, tourism, environmental renewal and new information and communication technologies. We will give special attention to developing public-private partnerships with a view to sustained economic growth. In the social domain, the Government of Burundi will concentrate on the education and health sectors to combat ignorance and disease. To meet crucial needs in those areas, many schools and clinics will be built 10-55109 10 throughout the country. Furthermore, the services in these two sectors will also be improved. Relaunching and promoting the Burundian economy depends also on consolidating regional groups and developing projects and programmes that integrate common interests. In that framework, the Government of Burundi will play a larger role in the promotion of regional organizations of which it is a member, such as the Economic Community of the Great Lake Countries, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, whose Executive Secretariat we host, the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and others. That ambitious programme requires consistent support for its implementation. Thus Burundi clearly requires various forms of support. To that end, we take the opportunity of this forum to make a strong appeal to the international community, to the United Nations system and to the countries represented here and to charitable organizations to continue their tireless support to the Government of Burundi with the ultimate aim of allowing it to lay the foundations for long-term development and for solidifying the achievements made in terms of peace, democracy, stability and reconciliation. In the context of international relations and relations between States, Burundi is convinced that the issue of global governance in general and economic governance in particular remains a major concern of most of our countries. Thus promotion of equity must become the leitmotif and the warhorse of the organizations of which our respective States are full members. Burundi desires additional efforts to allow developing countries sufficient representation in the international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and others. We believe that is the way to promote a fairer and more geographically balanced world. Burundi is committed to the African Union’s position on Security Council reform, in particular that the African continent should have two permanent seats with all of the privileges held by the five permanent members. Today the entire world is confronting a number of challenges and natural disasters, some of which are linked to climate change. Developing countries in general and African countries in particular are the most harshly affected, because of a lack of resources to deal with such challenges. It is high time that countries agree to take more audacious measures in order to provide the financing necessary to combat the negative effects of climate change, by stimulating and promoting in particular technology transfer and without forgetting capacity- building in the poorest and thus the most vulnerable countries. By effectively combating the effects of climate change, our countries will inevitably resolve in part the problem of food insecurity, which is also a significant threat to sustainable development. In that light, we call upon the wealthy countries to act in favour of developing countries, particularly post-conflict countries such as Burundi, through multiple, ongoing and significant support to key social and economic sectors. It is urgent that all development partners respect the promises they have made to developing countries in general and those countries in Africa in particular by increasing official development assistance. Burundi — whose stability has benefited from the excellent attention and considerable support of United Nations entities, the international community and friendly countries — remains very concerned by the issue of the maintenance of international peace and security. It reaffirms its commitment to cooperate with the United Nations in consolidating the achievements made with regard to peace and stability and in handling the finances necessary for its socio-economic development. Furthermore, in terms of international solidarity, all countries must combine efforts to make this world a harbour of peace. For that reason, Burundi is taking an active part in the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire to bring peace to that country, the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). With respect to Somalia, Burundi is committed on the ground despite the many problems its troops are encountering. We reiterate our request to the United Nations with regard to improving the living and working conditions of the AMISOM forces. We take this opportunity to recall the promises made in that 11 10-55109 regard by the Secretary-General when he visited Burundi on 9 June. We also call on other countries to deploy additional troops so that AMISOM can become a truly continental mission able to fulfil its mandate. In closing, Burundi welcomes the determination and commitment of the United Nations to make our world one of peace, democracy, tolerance and development, where individual and collective rights and freedoms are clearly protected. Therefore, we encourage everyone to go forward towards that noble mission. Our wish is that the next session of the General Assembly may take place in a context where most of the conflicts currently threatening some countries and the world as a whole will have been resolved.