Burkina Faso, 2012

It

is always a very significant moment for the delegation

of Burkina Faso when we find ourselves present at this

traditional meeting that opens the annual session of

the General Assembly. For us, it is a special moment

for ref lection on how the world is progressing and for

sketching ways to build a world of peace, security and

solidarity. The sixty-seventh session of the General

Assembly is taking place in an atmosphere of uncertainty

related to the very difficult international economic

situation and the growing threats to international peace

and security. The challenges that the situation poses to

world require of us greater courage, effort, creativity

and solidarity, if all of us wish one day to achieve the

objectives of peace and development so dear to the

international community.

This year, Burkina Faso has been tested by a food

crisis resulting from poor rainfall. The grain and cereal

shortage was exacerbated by a massive inf low of tens

of thousands of refugees from neighbouring Mali,

sometimes with all of their cattle, as a result of the crisis

that has raged in that brother country since 17 January.

The situation has led the Government of Burkina Faso

to undertake vigorous and urgent measures that have enabled us to contain its negative impact on the most

vulnerable strata of society and welcome our brothers

and sisters from Mali in acceptable human conditions. I

should like to reiterate the gratitude of the Government

and the people of Burkina Faso to the relevant specialized

agencies of the United Nations systems, the Economic

Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the

West African Economic and Monetary Union, the

Kingdom of Morocco, the Republic of China (Taiwan),

the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Japan, Tunisia,

Egypt and Azerbaijan, who have lent us their assistance

to ensure that refugees and worst-off populations of

Burkina Faso are able to live dignified lives.

At the political level, Burkina Faso, within the

framework of the implementation of the conclusions

of the Consultative Council on Political Reforms, is

continuing the strengthening and consolidation of its

democratic process. Following the successful holding

of a biometric registration effort covering the entire

national territory, December of this year will witness the

organization of joint legislative and municipal elections

on the basis of greater transparency and fairness.

Turning to the economy, Burkina Faso is continuing

its policy of building a strong and prosperous economy

to serve the basic needs of its population. To do that,

we have adopted a strategy of accelerated growth and

sustainable development to fulfil our drive for progress

towards becoming an emerging country and enabling

it to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. We

welcome the backing of Burkina Faso’s partners for that

strategy, whose ultimate goal is to achieve strong and

sustained economic growth that serves to multiplies

revenue and improves the population’s quality of life,

while taking into account the guiding principles of

sustainable management of natural resources.

The annual foreign financing needs of the strategy

remain significant, despite the efforts undertaken by

the Government of Burkina Faso on the basis of our

own resources. We are hopeful that our bilateral and

multilateral partners, as they have done in the past, will

be at our side to ensure a successful implementation of

the strategy. We wish to convey our gratitude to those

that have already demonstrated their solidarity with us.

Burkina Faso is aware that there can be no sustainable

development without peace and stability. That is why

President Blaise Compaoré has turned dialogue and

mediation into new levers for the maintenance of

harmony and understanding among peoples. We are very grateful to President Vuk Jeremić for having

placed this session of the General Assembly under the

banner, “Bringing about adjustment or settlement of

international disputes or situations by peaceful means”.

That theme underscores the importance of resorting to

peaceful means as an appropriate mechanism for the

settlement of disputes. Burkina Faso fully associates

itself with the choice of that topic which, following on

the sixty-sixth session, will enable the international

community to deepen its thinking and commit itself

resolutely to the peaceful settlement of conflicts

through dialogue to avoid stalemate and the escalation

of violence, which reduces to nought our efforts

aimed at promoting sustainable economic and social

development.

It is along those lines that the President of Burkina

Faso has accepted the mediation mission that its peers

from the Economic Community of West African States

have entrusted him within the framework of the crisis

in Mali. The ECOWAS mediation, whose goal is to

resolve, through dialogue, the dual institutional and

security crisis that is raging in Mali, has focused its

efforts on restoring the normal constitutional order and

to setting up stable transition bodies that are accepted by

Malians and recognized by the international community

in order to implement the road map contained in the

framework agreement of 6 April, which deals with

the management of the crisis and the organization of

elections. Burkina Faso will continue to work under

the ECOWAS framework, with the support of the

international community, towards Mali’s reunification

and reconciliation so as to create conditions conducive

to the holding of free and democratic elections

throughout all of Mali.

The establishment of stable and lasting peace

in Mali will require a comprehensive approach

combining political dialogue and the use of force

mainly aimed at neutralizing extremist terrorist groups

of a transnational nature, whose presence in the north

of Mali is likely to irretrievably compromise efforts

aimed at better governance and social and economic

development. The President of Burkina Faso, with the

assistance of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, will

continue in a clear-headed way to seek solutions to

the deep-rooted causes of the crisis undermining our

subregion, a crisis which the armed rebellion has but

exacerbated. I therefore call upon the Malian armed

movements to renounce the systematic use of arms as a

means to achieve their demands. I urge them to respect the fundamental freedoms of their fellow citizens and

to clearly distance themselves from extremist and

terrorist movements in order to promote the values of

dialogue and democracy to which Mali is so wedded.

The crisis situation in the north of Mali is a tangible

manifestation of the type of threat facing all of the

countries of the Sahel region. I therefore welcome the

timely initiative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that

brought us together on 26 September on the margins

of the General Assembly around the issue of peace,

security and development in the States of the Sahel

region. I renew my gratitude and reiterate to him the

regard and appreciation of the Government of Burkina

Faso for his availability and commitment to peace and

development in Africa and throughout the world.

Always working for international peace and

security, Burkina Faso contributes to peacekeeping

operations in Darfur and Guinea-Bissau. On

Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso encourages the efforts

undertaken by the transitional bodies to quickly restore

constitutional order and urges all of the country’s

stakeholders to ensure a consensual and inclusive

transition and to create the best possible conditions in

which to implement priority reforms, organize free and

transparent presidential elections and entrench the rule

of law. On Darfur, we encourage the parties to better

implement the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur, and

we continue to contribute through the implementation

and follow-up mechanism provided for by the Doha

Document.

On the issue of the Western Sahara, Burkina Faso

welcomes the determination of the parties to explore

appropriate ways and means to achieve a fair and

agreed political settlement of the issue. The current

status quo is neither viable nor of benefit to any of

the parties, given its impact on the subregion’s peace

and security. That is why my country has continuously

promoted dialogue and compromise aimed at achieving

an acceptable political solution between the parties. In

that regard, we believe that the Moroccan initiative for

the negotiation of an autonomous status for the Saharan

region could be an appropriate way to settle differences.

The world is experiencing great uncertainty and

anxiety as a result of the international economic and

financial instability, the increase in poverty, ongoing

environmental degradation and the increase in natural

disasters. In particular, the recent international financial

crises, which seriously compromised the balance of our economies, are sorely testing the cohesion of our

societies. They have an impact on all of us and require

of us constant vigilance and sustained solidarity.

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development (Rio+20), held from 18 to 22 June in Brazil,

rightly reminded us of our shared but differentiated

responsibilities to protect our planet and to ensure

sustainable development for future generations. It

is essential that efforts continue on the basis of the

consensus reached at the Conference in order to find

acceptable compromises that take into account the

interests of the various regions of the world.

Burkina Faso attaches special importance to all

issues related to the empowerment of women. To that

end, we have spared no effort to improve women’s

legal and social status in our country. The First Lady

of Burkina Faso, Mrs. Chantal Compaoré, Goodwill

Ambassador and Coordinator of the International

Campaign to Ban Female Genital Mutilation Worldwide,

co-chaired during this session the high-level side event

on banning female genital mutilation. That is yet

another demonstration of her well-known commitment

to the defence of women’s rights and the improvement

of the status of women. In that connection, we reiterate

our full support for the African initiative to introduce

at this session a draft resolution aimed at a global ban

on female genital mutilation. We hope that it will enjoy

the support of the entire international community.

Furthermore, we welcome efforts undertaken since

the launch of UN-Women and we hope that this new

body will strengthen United Nations activities aimed

at the empowerment of women, the defence of their

rights and the promotion of gender equality, especially

in developing countries.

Burkina Faso believes in multilateralism, solidarity

between peoples and the virtue of dialogue among

nations. In that regard, my delegation notes with great

satisfaction the calm atmosphere that currently prevails

in the relations between the Republic of China (Taiwan)

and the People’s Republic of China. That would

argue in favour of granting the Republic of China its

rightful place among the family of nations, including

through its meaningful participation in the activities

of international organizations such as the International

Civil Aviation Organization and the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The nature of the threats and challenges facing the

world demands of us a better sharing of responsibilities through a reform of the United Nations. Such reform

remains a topic of great concern at the very heart of

global governance. We hope that the negotiations

launched within the framework of this reform will

result in acceptable compromises that can strengthen

the effectiveness and standing of the United Nations as

it faces the new challenges of our changing world. Only

in that way will we genuinely move towards building a

more fair and united world.

My delegation listened with great interest to the

inaugural address by the President of the General

Assembly at its sixty-seventh session, in which he

covered all the major issues of concern to today’s

democratic societies. I would therefore like to

congratulate him on his election and welcome the

vision with which he would like to endow our common

Organization. He can rest assured of our delegation’s

readiness for full cooperation.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to

express our gratitude to his predecessor, His Excellency

Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar, for his efforts

during the sixty-sixth session of the Assembly. That

session’s very welcome results bear witness to the skill

and effectiveness with which he led our work.