Mr. President,
Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Heads of Delegations,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen
Mr. President Abdulla Shahid,
My country, Burkina Faso, welcomes your brilliant election as President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly. I can assure you of our full support for the success of your mandate in contributing to the success of the “presidency of Hope”, under the seal of which you were elected.
I would like to commend your predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Volkan Bozkir, for the outstanding manner in which he presided over the fate of our collective Organization during his term of office.
Mr. Secretary General,
Your brilliant reappointment on 18 June for a second five-year term at the helm of our Organization will give you the opportunity to ensure the implementation of your 2021 priorities and look forward to the coming years with greater peace of mind. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you and wish you every additional success during your second term.
You rightly pointed out when you took your oath of office on 18 June that the past 18 months have been unprecedented in the history of the United Nations and that our greatest challenge is to turn the crisis of those months into opportunities.
The strategic vision you presented for your second term confirms your commitment and determination to work towards strengthening multilateralism and the United Nations in solving the multiple problems facing our world, especially in these difficult times caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Mr. President,
Heads of Delegation
The 76th session of the UN General Assembly, which opened on 14 September, is being held under the overarching theme, entitled, “Building resilience through hope — to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalize the United Nations”.
The theme, which corresponds to the five priorities of the President of the General Assembly, calls on us all of us to act in line with the fact that they are centred upon global challenges that no country can meet alone. More than ever, we need an even stronger and more committed multilateralism.
Indeed, in addition to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries in the world today are facing other scourges, such as terrorism, climate change, poverty, etc.
All indications are that if the trend continues, the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals will unfortunately not be met.
With regard to the coronavirus disease, in particular we must continue to mobilize and further strengthen international solidarity to fight the pandemic, which is causing millions of families to mourn and aggravating the already-worrisome economic situation of countries.
At the national level, Burkina Faso has adopted a response plan, which is addressing health needs and determining the social and economic recovery measures to be taken. Thanks to the COVAX Facility and the Governments of friendly countries, vaccine doses have been received, and the vaccination programme is under way.
I thank the multilateral, bilateral and private partners that have supported Burkina Faso in the efforts to jointly counter the pandemic. I urgently call for greater international solidarity so that we can truly be shielded from the devastating effects of the pandemic.
Furthermore, the fight against COVID-19 cannot allow us to forget the fight against HIV/AIDS, which is also regarded as a pandemic. I welcome the holding of the High-level Meeting on AIDS on 8 June 2021 and the adoption of the political declaration calling for action to defeat AIDS by 2030.
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Terrorism also remains a great challenge that we must face in view of the many victims throughout the world. In Africa, in particular the Sahel region, development efforts have been undermined in recent years by recurrent terrorist attacks.
In Burkina Faso, the security situation continues to deteriorate, especially in the tri-border area (Burkina Faso, Mali, the Niger), as well as other parts of the country.
In order to ensure the return of security in all regions under threat, the Government has adopted measures to guide national security policy and continues to strengthen the capacities of its defence and security forces so as to ensure satisfactory operational effectiveness.
Everything will be done to guarantee security in all regions under threat of the country, and I would like to reassure the international community that military operations, like those that have already been carried out, will be conducted in strict compliance with respect for human rights in keeping with Burkina Faso’s international commitments in that area.
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the fight against terrorism, the sole efforts of the affected countries will have a significant and lasting impact only if they are supported by the international community.
Indeed, stability, security and peace in the Sahel do not only concern the countries of the Group of Five for the Sahel (G-5 Sahel) (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, the Niger and Chad), especially since the situation is the result, it should be recalled, of the collapse of Libya in 2011, which led to the exponential increase in the circulation of arms in the Sahel region.
I take this opportunity to remind you that this is a matter of international peace and security and that it is therefore necessary, indeed urgent, for the international community and particularly the Security Council to support the G-5 Sahel countries in the fight against terrorism. Once again, the best way to do that would be to place the mandate of the G-5 Sahel Joint Force under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
For now, I commend the coordination and cooperation efforts of the States members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in our common fight against terrorism. The appointment at the 59th ordinary session of the Authority of Heads of State of Mr. Mahamadou Issoufou, former President of the Republic of the Niger, and Mr. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, as champions of the resource mobilization for the 2020-2024 Action Plan for the eradication of terrorism in the region is a positive indication and a major demonstration of ECOWAS’ commitment.
I would also like to acknowledge and commend the multidimensional assistance of all bilateral and multilateral partners, the European Union, the United Nations and many others in this fight and reiterate our gratitude to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for his personal commitment to the Sahel.
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Following the period from 2016 to 2020, Burkina Faso is currently implementing a new development framework, the National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES II) for the period from 2021 to 2025, which focuses on the following areas:
1) consolidating peace, security and social cohesion and promoting national reconciliation;
2) deepening institutional reform and modernizing public administration;
3) building the dynamic begun to transform the productive bases of the national economy;
4) consolidating human development and solidarity.
The implementation of PNDES II will require 19,000 billion CFA francs, or about 34 billion US dollars, 63 per cent of which will be provided by the national budget.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the bilateral, multilateral and private technical and financial partners that have supported us in the implementation of PNDES I, as well as the development of the new National reference framework.
I would like to thank them in advance on behalf of the Burkinabe people for the support they will unfailingly provide in mobilizing the resources necessary for the implementation of our National Economic and Social Development Plan for the period from 2021 to 2025.
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen
Concerning climate change, the frequency of extreme weather events with their devastating consequences calls on us to take urgent, firm and concerted action. The climate emergency has been confirmed by the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which highlights the acceleration of global warming and unequivocally attributes it to human behaviour.
In Burkina Faso, it has been estimated that 34 per cent of the territory has been degraded owing not only to human activity, but also, above all, drought and endemic floods.
Competition for scarce natural resources undermines peaceful coexistence and leads to greater instability.
Burkina Faso has ratified the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and was among the first countries to make nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in 2015 when the Agreement was adopted. Burkina Faso’s NDCs are based on mitigation and adaptation measures and cover such areas as agriculture and water, livestock, housing and urban planning, biomass, energy, forestry and land use.
As there is no Planet B, all countries, whether large, small, developed or developing, must contribute to saving our planet and making the world a better place for both current and future generations to live.
Five years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the COP26, scheduled to be held in November in Glasgow, Scotland, will be an important moment to assess our common commitments and global attempts to fight the climate crisis. The pandemic has delayed the Conference, thereby providing us with the unprecedented opportunity to rethink post-pandemic economic recovery.
In order to succeed in our fight against the climate crisis, adaptation is paramount. It is therefore becoming urgent that we rethink our lifestyles and production and consumption patterns.
To that end, Burkina Faso commends the initiative to convene the Food Systems Summit, which will allow us to assess our current systems and reflect on ways to implement Sustainable Development Goal 2: “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”.
It is our hope that the Summit will be well attended by Member States, and its outcome successful.
Despite the security and health situation it is experiencing, Burkina Faso has ceaselessly maintained its commitment to serving the cause of peace within the United Nations theatres of operations.
I take this opportunity to express my satisfaction with the consensus reached this year with regard to the proper functioning of the eleven peacekeeping operations.
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As I mentioned earlier, the situation in Libya deserves the international community’s special attention, as a political solution to the Libyan conflict will undoubtedly contribute to stability and security in the Sahel region. I take this opportunity to express the solidarity of the Burkinabe people with the brotherly Libyan people, whose suffering has gone on for far too long.
With regard to the Western Sahara issue, Burkina Faso reaffirms its support for the ongoing political process conducted under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General to reach a realistic, pragmatic, lasting and compromise-based political solution to the regional dispute in accordance with the recommendations of the 17 Security Council resolutions that have been adopted since 2007.
In view of the significant progress made during the two round tables in Geneva, which brought together representatives of Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and the Polisario Front, Burkina Faso encourages the participants to maintain their commitment to the process in a spirit of realistic expectations and compromise.
In the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a genuine challenge for the international community.
We must therefore heed the call made by the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process before the Security Council in May following the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. He called for the creation of a political horizon that will allow the parties to resume constructive negotiations, as the absence of a political horizon “kills hope”. It is therefore urgent to resume negotiations.
As for the economic, commercial and financial blockade that has been imposed by the United States of America on Cuba for more than 60 years, the General Assembly once again broadly rejected it on 23 June. The resolution, in addition to the 29 other resolutions of its kind adopted since 1992, emphasizes the need to end the embargo, the already-disastrous socioeconomic and health consequences of which have been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Burkina Faso commends the resilience of the Cuban people and calls for the lifting of the embargo for the sake of the well-being of the Cuban people.
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On 16 June, the General Assembly adopted by consensus the President’s oral decision on a rollover of the intergovernmental negotiations on the reform of the Security Council at the subsequent session and in informal plenary meetings, “building on” the meetings held during the previous session, the document, entitled Elements of Convergence, prepared by the co-Chairs, and the positions of and proposals by Member States contained in the 2015 framework document.
The historic consensus that has emerged around a basic document is an important step in the right direction.
Burkina Faso welcomes the adherence of the majority of delegations to the African common position and takes this opportunity to reiterate its support for it, as reflected in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, and the indivisible nature of the two components of the African position.
Mr. Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The world is facing tough challenges. In order, to meet them, we obviously need an even stronger United Nations and multilateralism and an international community that is more committed than ever.
Let us all therefore work in synergy for a world of peace and justice, a world without hunger or armed conflict and a world free from terrorism and the COVID-19 pandemic. That will be possible if we all commit ourselves to those goals.
I thank you.