The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation presents Burundi’s position regarding the peace and security situation in the world at the ministerial preparatory meeting for TICAD-9 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Burundi

On Saturday August 24, 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation His Excellency Albert SHINGIRO made a statement at plenary session 2 of the preparatory ministerial meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-9) in Tokyo.

In his statement, His Excellency Albert SHINGIRO thanked the Government of Japan for the warm welcome and approval he received since his arrival in the city of Tokyo. He said that this session is a good opportunity to evaluate the implementation of commitments made during TICAD-8 in Tunis, Tunisia in August 2022 and to prepare for TICAD-9 in all aspects.

Regarding the sub-theme dubbed: “peace and stability: Guaranteeing human dignity and human security”, he said that it is particularly relevant not only to our continent, but also to the – the whole world because without peace, security and stability, we cannot talk about development and vice versa.

In matters of peace and security, His Excellency Albert SHINGIRO said that Burundi, always on the side of solutions and not of problems, reiterates its commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflicts through the tools that preventive diplomacy provides passed, namely communication, cooperation, consultation and dialogue.

His Excellency Albert SHINGIRO said that as part of general security, Burundi has contributed to peacekeeping operations and the fight against terrorism since 2007, referring to the presence of Burundian troops within ATMIS there in Somalia, MINUSCA in the Central African Republic and the eastern part of the DRC to support these brotherly countries in restoring peace throughout their territories.

He continued by saying that in their efforts to promote peace in the region, Burundi hosted the December 2023 African Youth Continental Dialogue in Bujumbura, the African Youth Capital and Regional Women’s Forum on August 22, 2024, to contribute to regional peace efforts. , according to the recommendation of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the countries that signed the Framework Agreement for Peace, Security and Cooperation in the DRC and in the region whose monitoring mechanism has been chaired by Burundi since 6 May, 2022.

His Excellency Albert SSHINGIRO also informed that Burundi is preparing to welcome, on October 31, 2024, the 23^th Conference of Heads of State of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) where issues of peace, security, development and regional integration will be discussed. He took the opportunity to invite the 21 COMESA member countries to participate at the highest level.

His Excellency Albert SHINGIRO finally said that Burundi reiterates its commitment to the TICAD process which, in various aspects, responds to the concerns of the African and Japanese people, especially in matters related to peace, security and development . In this regard, he asked to strengthen and maintain this platform, which has already been proven since TICAD-1 in 1993.