UN Peacebuilding Commission Start Visit To Burundi

UN Peacebuilding Commission delegation kicks off visit to Burundi

10 May 2008 - A delegation from the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) - established to help countries recovering from war avoid sliding back into conflict - began a six-day mission to Burundi to assess how to help the small Central African nation rebuild.

Led by Ambassador Johan L. Løvald, Permanent Representative of Norway, the seven-member team will meet with Government authorities and representatives of regional groups including the African Union (AU) and the Conference on the Great Lakes Region, civil society, women's groups, the private sector, religious leaders and journalists.

The mission, the PBC's second visit following its first last April, seeks to examine first-hand the situation on the ground, in particularly the resumed fighting between the National Defence Forces and the rebel Palipehutu-FNL forces.

A comprehensive ceasefire agreement was signed in 2006 in Burundi after a brutal civil war between its Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority, but sporadic violence has continued.

The delegates will also consider the priorities of the Strategic Framework for Peacebuilding in Burundi, adopted by the PBC in June 2007.

ENDS

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