Burundi, 2004

On

behalf of my delegation and on my own behalf, I

extend my sincere congratulations to you, Sir, on your

well-deserved election to the prestigious presidency of

the General Assembly at this session. I assure you of

my entire delegation’s unwavering support for you in

your noble work.

I also pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Julian

Robert Hunte, for his excellent guidance of the work of

the Assembly at the fifty-eighth session.

I also take this opportunity once again to

congratulate Secretary-General Kofi Annan on his

ongoing dedication and courage in discharging his

responsibilities. I thank him for his ever-growing and

resolute support for the cause of peace and security

throughout the world and in my country, Burundi, in

particular.

When the Security Council adopted resolution

1545 (2004) authorizing the deployment of the United

Nations Operation in Burundi, the United Nations

made a real contribution to the peace process in my

country, which two months later is now drawing

towards the final phase of that process.

The signing of the Arusha Peace and

Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi on 28 August

2000 was a decisive step forward in the peace process

in my country, which since 1993 had been devastated

by the longest crisis in its history, even jeopardizing

the very existence of the nation. The Agreement

ushered in a new era of calm and a gradual return to

peace with the conclusion of ceasefire agreements with

the armed political movements, especially since the

signing on 16 November 2003 of a comprehensive

ceasefire agreement with the main rebel movement

Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-

Forces nationales pour la défense de la démocratie.

Today, calm has descended throughout almost all

our national territory because we have acted on our

firm commitment to implement the agreements. Fully

inclusive institutions have gradually been established

and we are now preparing to enter the post-transition

era with elected institutions, to the satisfaction of our

people and that of the international community.

We wish to send the strong message that we are

resolved to break the logic of violence and to support

the restoration of peace, reconciliation, democracy and

development in our country. We also protect and

strengthen peace and security by integrating the

fighters from the armed movements into the security

and defence forces that we will need to establish our

national army and police force, to the comfort of all.

The process will be complemented by the disarmament,

demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants and

troops not included in the integration process.

The disarmament, demobilization and

professional or social reintegration programme is

coordinated at the uppermost level by the highest

authorities of our country, including the ministries

concerned and representatives of the World Bank, the

army and the armed movements. The programme is

currently in its first phase, bringing the combatants

together into agreed zones. Those combatants will very

shortly be transferred to the sites identified for their

cantonment, while the Government troops will remain

in their barracks. We already have in place a precedent

for the integration of the forces, having created a

special institutional protection brigade on 1 July.

Moreover, mixed military units have begun training in

a pilot centre with a view to establishing the national

defence force. This approach is intended to correct the

ethnic and regional imbalances that have often been

observed in our country and that have constituted the

source of the social and political conflict that has

brought us so much suffering.

The demobilization sites are ready, but we face a

terrible shortage of material and financial resources to

pay for the increase in the numbers of people we will

have to handle in the first few years before progressive

demobilization ends. We must recall that

demobilization and disarmament will make a real

contribution to creating a security environment

conducive to the organization of free, democratic,

transparent and honest elections.

The draft post-transition constitution, which will

serve as the basis for organizing the elections, and

other legal and administrative texts were discussed at

great length among the politicians in the President’s

circle and at the levels of mediation and heads of State

of the subregion. Some provisions on power-sharing

that did not enjoy unanimous support were upheld by

20 of 30 political parties and endorsed by the twenty-

second summit of heads of State of the subregion. They

were then included in the draft constitution, which was

adopted unanimously by our Parliament, with a 70-per

cent attendance rate, on 17 September. We have

7

scheduled a referendum on the draft constitution for 20

October.

Thus, despite the opposition of some political

parties, we believe that Burundi will soon have a post-

transition constitution and other legal texts that are

customary in democratic countries. We are placing our

faith in the Independent National Electoral

Commission established to organize the technical

aspects of the elections. We would stress that the

Commission will succeed only if we obtain the support

of our external bilateral and multilateral partners. We

sincerely thank those who have already pledged their

assistance, and we would urge others to follow suit.

The efforts to maintain peace are still being

resisted by the Palipehutu-Forces nationales de

liberation movement, which still refuses to come to the

negotiating table. Following the movement’s

involvement in the assassination of Papal Nuncio

Monsignor Courtney and in the massacre of Congolese

refugees in Gatumba and elsewhere, the summit of

heads of State of the regional initiative on Burundi,

meeting in Dar-es-Salaam, classified it as a terrorist

organization and recommended that the United Nations

and the African Union take the appropriate restrictive

measures. Here, I would like to urge the United

Nations to support the decisions taken at that regional

summit and thus to follow the lead of the African

Union, which has already responded favourably to that

appeal. I also take this opportunity to thank the heads

of State of the subregion and the mediators for the

support that they have constantly provided to the

Burundian peace process.

As everyone knows, security concerns are

unfortunately not limited to within my country’s

borders. The security of Burundi affects that of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and

Tanzania. In the light of that interdependence, an

international conference on peace, security, democracy,

economic development and regional integration in the

Great Lakes region is scheduled for November in

Dar es Salaam. That conference will undoubtedly have

a positive effect on the countries concerned. I have the

firm conviction that it will promote a new dynamic of

peace in the entire subregion so that we can bury the

hatchet of war and turn resolutely towards the integral

and integrated development of our peoples.

The efforts to contain and resolve the many

conflicts that continue to shake the African continent

are very instructive. First of all, the African countries

and the African Union have shown their political will

and their resolve to manage their own problems,

despite an obvious shortage of resources. Therefore, it

is time to call for the substantial strengthening of

international support provided to the African Union

and for much more active cooperation between the

African Union and the United Nations on conflict

prevention and the restoration of peace. Moreover, the

various approaches have shown us that the quest for

peace must be inclusive, not deliberately excluding

anyone. That is a sensible and productive approach.

Such joint action is something we hope the

Organization can do — particularly now, when

multilateralism seems to be recovering from recent

difficult ordeals. We must therefore remain united to

preserve the cherished ideals bequeathed to us by the

founders of the United Nations and enthusiastically

reaffirmed in the Millennium Declaration.

A much more cohesive and shared action under

the banner of the United Nations is thus essential at the

present time, marked by the complexity of the

challenges we are called to face, such as nebulous

international terrorism, which is more of a threat to

peace, stability and the safety of our borders than ever

before; the risk of the proliferation of small arms and

light weapons; and prostitution and the illicit trade in

human persons, whose effects are both cruel and

devastating to human rights, particularly children’s

rights.

Cohesion undoubtedly implies a carefully

planned effort. In that regard, we welcome the

Secretary-General’s initiative to establish a High-Level

Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. Its

conclusions will serve as beacons to us as we seek to

humanize international relations and to promote a

world of solidarity and development compatible with

the environment.

The complexity of the current challenges

justifies — now more than ever before — the urgent,

long-awaited reform of the Organization. We welcome

the steps already taken to streamline the working

methods of the General Assembly and the reforms

already initiated within the Secretariat with a view to

adapting the Organization’s internal structures and

culture to new expectations and challenges. We hope

that the same dynamic will be applied to Security

Council reform so that it will soon become a reality.

8

Attaining the Millennium Development Goals is a

challenge for us all. Experts suggest that the efforts

already undertaken are not equal to the task. Therefore,

we must sharpen our focus by mobilizing more of the

necessary resources.

Our moral and historic responsibility to future

generations is particularly great in the fight against

HIV/AIDS. Entire families have been decimated,

millions of children have been orphaned and elderly

persons are abandoned, alone and defenceless. It is the

family structure that is disintegrating, and that is

horrible to see. It is our common responsibility to unite

our forces to wipe out this pandemic, which knows no

borders and threatens the very survival of the human

race. We have no right to fail.

In the economic area, we know the unbearable

situation of the peoples in the least developed

countries, who are trapped in abject poverty. In that

regard, my delegation urges the international

community to work together in implementing the

Brussels Programme of Action. From that perspective,

debt relief, more flexible conditions for joining the

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, an increase

in official development assistance and the opening up

of international markets deserve careful attention.

The international community cannot remain

indecisive on the issue of agricultural subsidies in

industrialized countries that distort the rules of the

game of free competition and considerably reduce the

opportunities for poor countries to develop.

Africa has enormous natural resources, yet

poverty, diseases and suffering of every kind ravage it

more than they do other continents. By forming the

New Partnership for Africa’s Development, Africans

have committed themselves to promoting good

political and economic governance — a prerequisite

for sustainable development. The priorities are already

identified, sector by sector, and the subregional

structures are being further strengthened. Yet the

success of the efforts currently under way will depend

not only on the resolve of Africans themselves, but

also on the level of solidarity offered by the

international community.

The twentieth century and the beginning of the

twenty-first century have witnessed important forums

in which the world’s leaders have made decisive

commitments in various areas affecting human

security, in the profound sense of the term. Those

commitments, which have given rise to much hope

throughout the world, have been implemented only

partially. It is our hope that the high-level plenary

meeting scheduled for 2005 will be able to breathe new

life into the implementation of the commitments made,

for the happiness and prosperity of present and future

generations.