Burkina Faso, 2010

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.