8013th Security Council Meeting: Situation in Burundi

Differing political positions continue to fuel deterioration of socioeconomic situation, special envoy tells Security Council at 8013th meeting.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Security Council
• Video Length: 01:03:59
• Production Date: 26 July 2017
• Asset Language: Arabic; Chinese; English; French; Russian; Spanish
• Personal Subject: MICHEL KAFANDO
• Subject Topical: DIALOGUE; ECONOMIC CONDITIONS; POLITICAL CONDITIONS; SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
• Geographic Subject: BURUNDI
• MAMS Id: 1939684
• Parent Id: 1939182

Description

Inter-Burundian Dialogue Remains on Track, Permanent Representative Affirms, Citing Recommendations Contained in Final Report

Burundi’s socioeconomic Situation continued to deteriorate due to the ongoing political situation in the East African country, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy said today as he briefed the Security Council on developments there.

Special Envoy Michel Kafando said that during his June visit, the national authorities had expressed confidence in their ability to conduct national affairs in a peaceful fashion, said the Government believed that the general situation was calm and had condemned foreign interference in Burundi’s internal affairs.

Opposition leaders, however, were concerned about “authoritarian excesses” and were calling for greater international involvement in favour of an inclusive dialogue without pre-conditions, he reported, adding that such a dialogue would entail the participation of all Burundians. The opposition also called for suspension of the constitutional review process currently under way, and for an end to violations of their basic rights.

He went on to state that unemployment compelled Burundians, especially young ones, to leave home for neighbouring countries. Whereas the security situation had been improving since the beginning of 2017, grenade attacks had occurred in recent weeks, resulting in several casualties.

The first priority was to promote an inclusive dialogue, he said, emphasizing the crucial need for the Government to allow the involvement of the opposition, both in exile and inside Burundi. The Arusha Agreement must remain the cornerstone of all efforts, he said, stressing calm collective action on the part of African leaders, including those within the subregion, and by the United Nations. That would be essential in persuading the Government to accept measures intended to calm the situation and encourage the regime to engage in the inclusive inter-Burundian dialogue, he said.

Reporting on his recent visit to the country, Jürg Lauber (Switzerland), Chair of the Burundi configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission, said his visit had focused primarily on socioeconomic cooperation and had included a retreat aimed at determining the main socioeconomic challenges in the three priority areas of agriculture, education and health. Whereas macroeconomic analysis had not been the event’s main focus, the indicators cited during the retreat had shown the concerning nature of the situation, he said. In the agricultural sector, participants had identified low productivity, the impact of climate change, insufficient infrastructure, the lack of mechanization and fertilizers, and plant diseases as being among the main challenges.

Burundi’s representative said anti-constitutional attempts to seize power were “inadmissible”, recalling that the 2015 attempted coup d’état in his country remained a nightmare from which the Burundian people were trying to awaken. Emphasizing that the inter-Burundian dialogue remained on track and was not at a standstill, as some had suggested, he said the domestic process had ended and the final report submitted to the national authorities contained recommendations arising from discussions with more than 26,000 Burundians.

The convening of numerous dialogue workshops across the country were another promising development, he continued, noting that all those processes were complementary, reinforcing a culture of dialogue within the country. A democratic culture was gradually gaining ground, despite some new challenges yet to be addressed. Security remained the cornerstone for all Burundians and they had committed decisively to upholding peace, he stressed. As a result, Burundi was calm today, although the struggle against common crimes was one in which all should engage. Stressing that no country was perfect on human rights, he said none should feel compelled to hand down lessons to others, particularly since Burundi was working to promote and protect human rights in an especially difficult post-crisis environment.

Also speaking today were representatives of Uruguay, Japan, Kazakhstan and Bolivia.

The meeting began at 10:14 a.m. and concluded at 11:17 a.m.