At the outset, may I, on behalf of my delegation,
congratulate Mr. Joseph Deiss sincerely and warmly on
his election to the presidency of the General Assembly
at this sixty-fifth session. I assure him of our support to
ensure a successful session. May I also extend my deepest
gratitude to his predecessor, Mr. Ali Treki, who so
effectively led the work of the sixty-fourth session. I extend
my thanks to the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for
his commitment and resolve in defending the ideals of the
Charter.
The sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly is
taking place in a difficult international environment,
characterized by multiple crises of all kinds —
economic, financial, food, energy, and so forth. This is
also a time when the international community is
wondering whether it really will be able to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
From that standpoint, fortunately, the recent High-level
Plenary Meeting on the MDGs held here gives hope
that the commitments made to the poorest populations
will be implemented so that the world can take on a
more human face and focus on social and economic
well-being, particularly of the most disadvantaged.
However, that will be possible only in a healthy and
calm environment.
We therefore welcome once again the Climate
Change Conference held in Copenhagen in December
2009. Even if it was not able to agree on a figure for
reducing greenhouse gases, it nevertheless pushed
forward the debate on providing assistance to the most
vulnerable countries and on measures to reduce
deforestation. We only hope that the commitments
made, particularly in the financial area, will be
honoured, and we ardently hope that the forthcoming
meeting in Cancún will yield a viable environmental
agreement. Such an agreement is all the more urgent in
that flooding and other climate disasters occurring
throughout the world with unbridled cruelty remind us
of the great fragility of the environmental balance.
Turning to peace and security, conflict resolution
throughout the world and particularly in Africa, which
is most directly concerned, remains a major challenge
for the international community. While some crises
have been more or less overcome, for example in West
Africa, others continue to be a matter of serious
concern. In Togo, open, free and transparent elections
were able to be held this year to everybody’s
satisfaction. Burkina Faso welcomes the ongoing
political openness and appeals to that country’s
partners to continue providing it with the necessary
support. In Côte d’Ivoire, major progress was made
with the effective disarmament of the Forces nouvelles,
the publication of the electoral list and the scheduling
of the first round of presidential elections for 31
October. We trust in the ability of all the people of
Côte d’Ivoire to overcome the few remaining obstacles
and to take up the challenge of achieving peace and
lasting development. In Guinea, we still hope that the
remaining obstacles that led to the postponement of the
second round of presidential elections will soon be
overcome. We call on all Guinean political actors to act
in moderation so as to enable their country to open up
quickly to democracy and to build a prosperous
economy for the benefit of all.
I take this opportunity to convey once again
Burkina Faso’s gratitude to the United Nations and the
regional and subregional organizations that put their
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confidence in the facilitation and mediation of His
Excellency Mr. Blaise Compaore, President of Burkina
Faso, and that continue to support his many efforts for
peacebuilding, security and the rule of law in West
Africa.
In Darfur, the results of the Doha negotiations are
encouraging and should persuade the international
community to use its influence to speed up political
dialogue and strengthen the operational capacity of the
African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in
Darfur. Burkina Faso is naturally concerned over the
insecurity and instability in Somalia, with ongoing
insurgent attacks on the Federal Transition Government
and the African Union Mission in Somalia. We urge the
Security Council and donor countries to fulfil their
commitment to supporting the rehabilitation process
for the Somali State. The results of our efforts to put an
end to the reprehensible acts of piracy on the high seas
will have no effect or sustainability unless we
eliminate their root causes, including extreme poverty,
which provides the most fertile soil.
My country is carefully following political
developments in Madagascar and Niger. We welcome
the initiatives taken by the transitional authorities in
the two countries to organize free and transparent
elections that will ensure a return to constitutional
order. Turning to Western Sahara, we welcome the
impetus given to the negotiations by the Secretary-
General, and we call on the protagonists to pursue
political dialogue with a view to a peaceful and
realistic settlement of the dispute.
One cannot speak of peace and security in Africa
without mentioning drugs and narcotics trafficking and
their clear link with armed conflicts, the proliferation
of light weapons, money-laundering, the financing of
organized transnational crime and terrorism. The need
to pool our efforts to deal with all this is essential and of
concern to every country. The open debate of the Security
Council organized by Burkina Faso on 8 December 2009
to address this scourge (see S/PV.6233) was a
contribution to that effort. We hope that there will be
appropriate follow-up so as to keep the international
community mobilized.
The Sahelo-Saharan region has for many years
been subject to recurrent terrorist attacks. Collective
and cooperative efforts must be taken quickly at all
levels to ensure peace and security in that part of Africa.
The situation in the Near and Middle East is
strongly marked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and
the Iranian nuclear question. Burkina Faso welcomes
the easing of the Gaza blockade and reiterates its call
for a total lifting of the embargo. We welcome the
direct talks under way between the parties to the
conflict. A comprehensive and lasting peace is the only
way to ensure the freedom of the Palestinian people in
an independent State with secure and recognized
borders, the security of Israel, and regional stability.
On the Iranian nuclear question, Burkina Faso
hopes that common sense will prevail by reconciling
Iran’s rights to acquire civilian nuclear power and the
legitimate fears of the international community over
military nuclear proliferation.
United Nations reform has been on our agenda
for several years and some progress has been made,
including the adoption on 2 July of resolution 64/289
on system-wide coherence, which, inter alia,
established UN Women. We trust that other aspects of
the reform, particularly of the Security Council, will be
achieved within a reasonable time frame in order to
correct historic injustices — particularly vis-à-vis
Africa, which is the only continent not to have a
permanent seat — and to create a more democratic
United Nations able to take up the challenges of the
world today more effectively.
We trust that this reform dynamic will promote a
new spirit that will open the way to participation by the
Republic of China on Taiwan in the activities of
international bodies, particularly the International Civil
Aviation Organization and the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Burkina Faso reiterates its faith in multilateralism
and solidarity among peoples, and to that end we stand
ready to make our modest contribution to building a
world of peace and justice.