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