YouSaid · the spoken record

Gabriel Ntisezerana

lines on the record: 36
first: 2008-09-24
most recent: 2009-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“These values must guide the international community in resolving the bloody conflicts that threaten some parts of Africa, the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan, and will help us to fight terrorism and other forms of transnational crime effectively. I cannot conclude my address without reaffirming the commitment of my country to multilateralism, 5 09-52586 which represents our single best hope for responding to all threats to peace and security in the world.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Burundi endorses the common African Union position that was set out by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and will be reaffirmed at the Copenhagen Conference. We welcome measures announced by President Barack Obama, the European Union and Japan to considerably reduce greenhouse gas emissions, manage toxic waste responsibly and provide financial and technological resources to least- developed and landlocked countries. Burundi renews its pledge to the United Nations to continue working to ensure that the peoples of the entire world cooperate in peace and defend the values of freedom, solidarity and tolerance.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Given the situation, we would like once again to invite developed countries and the Group of Eight in particular to translate into action the commitment they undertook to raise official development assistance contributions to 0.7 per cent of GDP by 2015, as well as to honour the promise made in Scotland to increase development aid by $50 billion per year starting in 2010, with half of this sum allocated to Africa. Climate change constitutes a threat to peace and food security in Africa and around the world. We therefore call for the adoption of courageous measures to limit the production of greenhouse gases and for incentives to encourage reforestation policies, the protection of equatorial forests, the responsible management of water and energy resources, and the use of clean and renewable energies.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The Assembly will of course understand that, when our gross domestic product and our economy’s macroeconomic indicators perform poorly, they undermine the social protection efforts undertaken by the Government. The volatile market for petroleum products also has a destabilizing impact on Burundi’s economy, as it produces external shocks that are difficult to bear. Despite the economic policy interventions that have been taken to counteract the negative effects of disturbances in international markets, the economies of developing countries must nevertheless reiterate the appeal for restoring order with regard to such current issues as those pertaining to the stability of international financial markets, the implementation of trade agreements, technology transfers and the need to increase assistance and investment in Africa.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Moreover, the Government would like donors to mobilize additional resources to ensure the sustainability of our achievements. We would like to take this opportunity to heartily thank partners that have already supported the implementation of our policy to provide free primary education and health services for pregnant women and children under the age of five. We appeal to those who are still hesitant to come to our assistance in order to help us to overcome the numerous challenges to which I have referred here. The global financial crisis has not spared Burundi. While the cost of raw materials has dropped in general, the decrease has been especially sharp in the price of coffee, which is our main export product.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“A national body will soon be established that will be responsible for providing health insurance for people living in rural areas or working in the informal sector. Education for all is another of the Millennium Development Goals that the people of Burundi are working to achieve. Thanks to community development efforts, our people built more than 700 schools and health centres in the course of 2008, so as to allow all school-age children to benefit from free primary education, as decided in 2005 by our country’s President. However, we still face the ongoing problem of providing the necessary financial resources to equip those schools and health centres, provide them with drinking water and pay their staff. I need not point out that these exceptional steps have been taken to contribute to our country’s progress in the run-up to 2015.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We are pleased to inform the Assembly that, thanks to our policy of free primary education and health care for children under the age of five and pregnant women, Burundi is achieving results that merit support. For instance, thanks to that policy, the number of pregnant 09-52586 4 women giving birth in hospitals or health centres increased from 22.9 per cent in 2005 to 56.3 per cent in 2008. In July 2009, the Government of Burundi decided to provide free malaria treatment and mosquito nets for its entire population. The Government has also decided to take responsibility for the medical treatment and follow-up for women beginning in the first month of pregnancy, with a view to better protecting the health of mothers and children. That policy includes an information campaign aimed at curbing the number of births.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“To that end, the Government, with the support of its partners, has begun a series of reforms aimed at improving public finance management and facilitating private domestic and foreign investment in our country. A new investment law has therefore been promulgated, which the Government has adapted to bring it in line with the East African Community’s model. A value added tax is already in place and an agency to promote investment will soon become operational. Burundi aims to meet the challenge set at the international level to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, as underscored in the Outcome adopted at the September 2005 World Summit of heads of State or Government (resolution 60/1).”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“With the support of the World Bank, Burundi hopes to hold a meeting of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Burundi next month in Paris, with a view to mobilizing funds destined for sectors that have been identified as having the potential for quickly contributing to economic growth and playing a catalysing role — namely, those of the energy, agricultural, private sector, tourism, information technology and communication infrastructure sectors. We count on the existing partnership to provide the necessary financing. The Government has come to understand that, in order to fully restart economic growth, it needs to promote good governance in the management of public affairs and further improve the business environment.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“In an effort to improve the effectiveness of the assistance provided to Burundi, the Government, working in partnership with donors, has put in place a partners’ coordination group that provides a forum for discussion in which development partners are consulted on all technical and policy issues in connection with the implementation of our national strategy on development and peacebuilding. Today, genuine dialogue and active partnership take place throughout the process, from the planning to the results assessment stages.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“I need not recall that BINUB’s mandate should be agreed between now and the end of December of this year. A successful outcome to the elections will enable us, in coordination with the Secretary-General, to redefine the mission of the United Nations in Burundi by focusing major attention on programmes aimed at lasting development. Burundi must make a success of its electoral process if it is to be able to pursue its economic development. Our strategic framework to combat poverty, which is the point of reference for all efforts in that regard, has been in the process of implementation since 2007. An assessment of that effort over the past two years reveals satisfactory results overall, despite the fact that the performance indicators we wanted to achieve with regard to certain macroeconomic policies have not yet been realized.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The Ministry of the Interior has also been strengthened in order to support the commission. The partnership between the electoral commission, the Government and donors has just been formalized through an agreement between the United Nations Development Programme and the Government of Burundi on a project to provide support for the elections. In that regard, the Government will provide the independent national electoral commission a $7 million package for the entire endeavour. We are counting on the varied support of the international community to mobilize all the necessary resources to make the electoral process a success. We welcome the willingness expressed by the Secretary-General to bring BINUB’s mandate in line with the electoral environment.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The Government of Burundi remains steadfast to its commitments vis-à-vis AMISOM. However, we would like to see the international community respond as soon as possible to the concerns that I have expressed here, which are well-known to all partners who wish to see the return of peace in the Horn of Africa. This meeting is taking place a few months before the holding of general elections in my country aimed at reinvigorating institutions at every level. I would like to underscore here that the Government is committed to making sure that those elections are transparent and that they are held in an atmosphere of calm. An independent national electoral commission has already been put in place, based on a political compromise between the various parties. In addition, a new electoral law has just been promulgated.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“To that end, the Government of Burundi believes that AMISOM’s mandate should be changed to allow contingents to protect themselves against deadly attacks and to take the offensive or pursue aggressors, if necessary, in accordance with Chapter VII of the Charter. We believe that contingents must be equipped with sufficient resources in terms of quality and quantity. We believe that strike helicopters and funds for information-gathering on the ground must be provided. We also believe that additional troops should be deployed without delay in order to make the Mission truly continental in character. And we believe that the long-promised sanctions against countries, 3 09-52586 organizations and individuals who support Islamist groups should at last become a reality.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Unfortunately, our contingent deployed in Somalia as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has, over a two-year period, been the target of three suicide attacks that have claimed the lives of 25 soldiers and left 35 others wounded. To that grisly toll, we must add three victims of the crash of an Ilyushin aircraft into Lake Victoria in March this year. Those facts show that Burundi is paying a heavy price in the international mission to contribute to the quest for peace in Somalia. Because of this loss of life, some in Burundi are calling for a troop withdrawal. We believe that, in its current configuration, the Mission can continue and be completed only with considerable efforts by the international community.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“It is imperative that the Burundian people succeed in the transitional justice process. That will enable them to bury the hatchet of war and build their future on a solid foundation of peace and mutual trust. Mindful of the fact that it would not enjoy peace for long in a troubled Africa, our country has responded positively to the international community’s appeal to contribute to peacekeeping in countries at war. Thus, Burundi is participating in the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire, to restore peace to Côte d’Ivoire; the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in the Central African Republic, in Chad and the Central African Republic; and the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, in Darfur and Somalia.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Furthermore, the Burundian Government recognizes that illegal firearms in the hands of the civilian population constitute a serious threat to peace. In order to address that problem, the Government has established a commission to encourage people to voluntarily turn in their weapons. As the commission has a time-bound mandate, the Government has launched a large-scale programme to recover all weapons and clamp down on crime linked to firearm use. A decree regulating legal firearms possession has just been signed by the President. Judicial reform is being carried out to ensure equitable justice and combat impunity. The Government welcomes the support of the international community in this area. To further consolidate the peace dividend, we must meet the challenges of knowing the truth so that we can achieve national reconciliation.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Indeed, Burundi, as an African country with one of the highest population growth rates, has an acute land-shortage problem, which has given rise to property disputes. In order to preserve social harmony, a commission for land and other assets has been established to resolve all disputes arising between repatriated persons and their fellow citizens who have remained in the hills, where land is considered a unique treasure. Burundi is facing the problem of financing the professional reintegration of thousands of men, women and even children who have served as combatants. The international community’s support is thus essential to assist us in the process of socially reintegrating those sectors of the needy population so that the gains of peacebuilding will not be undermined.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Some former combatants have joined the army or the police, and the others have been demobilized and are benefiting from the process of reintegrating into normal socio-economic life. We wish to thank all our partners for their support for Burundi’s considerable peacebuilding and democratization efforts. With the return of peace and democratically elected institutions, the Burundian people are beginning to regain confidence in the institutions of the Republic. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are returning to their former villages, and Burundian refugees who were in neighbouring countries have returned. However, the reintegration of former combatants, IDPs and refugees is not taking place without difficulties or constraints.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We urge all States in the Great Lakes region to continue to engage in dialogue and cooperation to ensure comprehensive political stability and development in the region. We take this opportunity to request that consultative status in the General Assembly be granted at this session to the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. The present session of the General Assembly is taking place at a time when the Burundian people are welcoming the progress made on the path of peace. Indeed, the war in Burundi is now over. The last rebel 09-52586 2 movement, the Forces nationales de liberation, has laid down its weapons and has become a political party that is actively participating in the country’s democratic life. The movement’s top leaders have been appointed to posts in the area of public administration.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Here, we wish to reaffirm our support for His Excellency Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Once again, we wish him every success and assure him of the full cooperation of the Republic of Burundi in seeking peaceful and courageous solutions to the problems facing today’s world. We hail him in particular for his devotion to the cause of peace and development, which he has continued to demonstrate for the world in general and for Burundi in particular. Finally, our gratitude goes to the international community, the Peacebuilding Commission, the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi, the European Union, the Regional Initiative for Burundi and the Republic of South Africa for their efforts to restore peace, which is now a reality and which we hope will be irreversible in Burundi.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“It is an honour to take the floor at the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly. At the outset, on behalf of His Excellency Mr. Pierre Nkurunziza, President of the Republic of Burundi, and our entire delegation, we join preceding speakers in warmly congratulating you, Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki, on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. Your election is a tribute to you and to your country. My delegation and I personally wish you every success in your noble mission. Our congratulations go also to the other members of the Bureau. We also take this opportunity to pay a well-deserved tribute to your predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, for his commitment and for the quality of the work accomplished during his mandate.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“In closing, I wish to say that we hope that a minimum of political will and strengthened international solidarity will enable the United Nations to find appropriate solutions to the scourges affecting our era. Long live international solidarity. Long live the United Nations.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“We therefore appeal to developed countries that have not yet done so to keep their promise to allocate 0.7 per cent of gross national income to official development assistance. Special attention should be given to problems including putting order into the international financial markets, the need to increase investment in Africa, the rational management of water and energy resources, technology transfer, international trade agreements, climate change and the management of toxic waste. It is more urgent than ever to harmonize the procedures and instruments for achieving our common objectives, including efforts to counteract hunger, reduce poverty worldwide and to ensure peacebuilding. Otherwise, we will witness the persistence of phenomena including the tragedy of clandestine emigration, the brain drain, heightened crime and other ills.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“We are pleased to report that, through its policy of free primary education and health care for children under five years and women in childbirth, Burundi is achieving successes that deserve support. While thanking those countries and peoples who have been of such great help to us since the launch of the policy in 2005, we would like to call for international solidarity, because the policy requires considerable Government resources that our country cannot acquire on its own. Indeed, the World Solidarity Fund for the promotion of social and human development and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria do exist, but unfortunately, despite those initiatives the results are still modest.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“But we should not be discouraged. On the contrary, our Organization must demonstrate the capacity to prevent this type of conflict and provide effective remedies for the ills threatening humanity. 11 08-52272 In the name of international solidarity, Burundi has decided to make its modest contribution towards resolving some of those crises, by providing military observers and police officers in Darfur and Côte d’Ivoire, and to military peacekeeping contingents in Somalia in the framework of operations established by the African Union. Burundi enthusiastically welcomed the global challenge represented by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were adopted in 2000 and reaffirmed in the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document (resolution 60/1).”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Maintaining peace and security is a multidimensional task subject to the many challenges that our Organization is called upon to address. These include conflict prevention and resolution, combating terrorism, combating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons and combating poverty, hunger and disease, including the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The United Nations is mobilizing many efforts and resources to meet those challenges. While it is true that considerable progress has been achieved, our Organization still has much to do, because the way forward is still long. We should also point out that bloody conflicts and hotbeds of tension remain, including in Somalia, Darfur, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East, et cetera. Terrorism is gaining ground all the time and is causing more death than conventional war.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“As I address this Assembly, nine Burundian members of Parliament represent my country in the Legislative Assembly of the Community. That integration represents certain challenges for the people and Government of Burundi, particularly with respect to the imminent creation of a common market and a customs union, to culminate in the establishment of a political federation. We take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the States members of EAC, which understand the difficulties facing a country emerging from conflict, such as Burundi, and have implemented measures to assist our integration. Of course, we also count on the support of our development partners to help us in all areas of integration that we consider to be strategic for the political stability and development of the countries of the subregion.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“The Government is determined to fight corruption and tax fraud, and to promote real transparency in the management of public wealth. Allow me to recall that an anti-corruption law has been enacted and that an anti-corruption brigade is now operating. The public oversight body is playing its role and we welcome the considerable contribution made by civil society organizations. Burundi welcomes the ratification of the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region by nine members of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. We will, of course, pursue measures to ensure that all member States ratify the Pact. We recall that Burundi joined the East African Community (EAC) in July 2007.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“In a different vein, we recently organized a national housing and population census that will provide us with reliable data, without which it would be difficult to carry out sustainable development projects. The results of the census will allow the Government to improve the drafting of school and health policies, to which we pay particular attention, as evidenced by the measures already taken to establish free health care for children under the age of five and women at childbirth, as well as free basic education. The Government has negotiated and launched macroeconomic and structural reforms that our development partners support. Those reforms are aimed at macroeconomic stabilization, the privatization of State enterprises, and bank and monetary management that is compatible with sustainable growth.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“That is a very important and difficult measure, particularly because there is a large number of weapons in private hands. We are convinced that, unless those weapons are taken out of circulation and destroyed, peace and security will always be under threat. We therefore count on the support of our development partners to recover all weapons and munitions, particularly once the PALIPEHUTU-FNL combatants have completed the integration process. Indeed, although our country is arduously recovering from the devastating effects of civil war, its gross domestic product remains among the lowest in the world. The purchasing power of the population has fallen and inflation has risen apace, particularly given the international phenomenon of the generalized increase in the price of food and oil products.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Nevertheless, a number of measures have been taken and others are under way. An independent national human rights commission and a national children’s forum will soon be launched. Additionally, a new criminal code providing for severe punishment for gender-based 08-52272 10 violence is before Parliament, which is now up and running normally. In the same vein, the Government has established human rights focal points in all ministerial departments and is providing training in that area and in peace education. I note that in Burundi, security is generally good throughout our national territory, but we are encountering certain forms of insecurity linked to attacks and killings as a result of armed robbery and land disputes. In order to control that phenomenon, the Government has begun to disarm the civil population.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Thanks particularly to the support of the Peacebuilding Commission, the Government of Burundi has just launched, throughout the country, dialogue frameworks between the socio-political partners of Burundi: the leaders of political parties, members of Parliament, civil society and the media. They exchange views on the current challenges to our country in order to reach a consensus on the way democracy should function in Burundi. In the framework of promoting a sound justice system and national reconciliation, the Government will soon organize nationwide elections on the machinery for transitional justice. Our Government is firmly committed to respecting human rights in all their forms. That is no easy task in a country that recently emerged from a civil war that lasted more than 15 years.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“We also take this opportunity to call on that movement to commit itself resolutely to the peace process, in particular by ending its practice of forcing local populations to supply its fighters. For its part, the Government of Burundi reaffirms that it will spare no effort to ensure progress in the peace process. This session is taking place three years after the establishment of democratically elected institutions in our country, and it is the first time in our history that an elected Government has lasted more than three years. This is an important stage in democracy. The people in general and the Government in particular welcome that milestone.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Finally we wish to thank the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi. The sixty-third session of the General Assembly is taking place at a time when the people of Burundi are at last enjoying the end of the war between the Government army and the Parti Libération du Peuple Hutu-Forces nationale de libération (PALIPEHUTU- FNL). The representatives of both parties have been sitting at the same table since May, seeking to identify the ways and means to implement the Comprehensive Ceasefire Agreement signed in Tanzania on 7 September 2006. Allow us to also thank the international community, the United Nations, the African Union and the Regional Peace Initiative on Burundi for their participation in the return of the leaders of the PALIPEHUTU movement to Burundi.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“At the outset, I would like to join previous speakers, on behalf of His Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza, President of the Republic of Burundi, and our entire delegation, in offering our warmest congratulations to Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann on his outstanding election to the presidency. We congratulate the other members of the Bureau as well. We would also like to pay well-deserved tribute to his predecessor, Mr. Srgjan Kerim, for the skill and wisdom with which he guided the work of the General Assembly at its sixty-second session. We also take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Ban Ki-Moon once again on the skill and dynamism with which he is guiding our Organization. We would also like to pay special tribute to his tireless devotion to the cause of peace and development in Burundi as we attempt to consolidate peace and stability.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)