Paul Wolfowitz: Arrival Statement in Burundi, March 7, 2007, Bujumbura

Paul Wolfowitz : Bonjour, je suis très heureux d’avoir cette occasion de visiter Burundi. I guess you don’t need to translate that one, but from now on I would speak English if you would permit me.

I am very happy to have this chance to visit Burundi, I believe, I am told this is the first time any President of the World Bank has visited this country.

And I think, the reason it’s taken so long to have a visit like this is the more tragic fact that this country’s seen years and years and years of terrible war and conflict.

It’s taken a great deal of efforts by many people, people of Burundi and people in your neighboring countries and people in South Africa to bring back the peace that this country enjoys now.

But I think, we all have to recognize that peace after so many years of fighting can be a very fragile thing.

And I am here in part to learn how the World Bank can support the government and the people of Burundi in their efforts to build on that peace and to make it more secure and more stable.

I understand that the government has completed the preparation of its poverty reduction strategy and an important element in that strategy is the effort to improve governance in this country and to rule out corruption. And they have asked us to help them in formulating that governance strategy.

We also want to discuss with the government what can be done to take advantage of the peace this country enjoys to begin to improve people’s lives and to give them a larger stake in avoiding conflicts.

In this visit, I am looking forward to meeting with the President and members of the government but also with representatives of civil society groups, so even in a short visit I can get a sense of the range of opinions in this country.

And I am very eager to have this chance to learn with my own eyes about your country. I’ve had a chance to learn a great deal by reading about Burundi. And I have also had the chance to learn from an excellent teacher who was your representative onn the Board of Directors of the World Bank group, Mr. Mathias Sinamenye.

And Mr. Sinamenye also for the first year and half of my tenure as President represented 22 African countries including Burundi and did an extremely effective job in that difficult task.

So, I am happy if I can, in a small way return the favor of his excellent service by being the first President of the World Bank to visit his country.

Merci, beaucoup, Murakoze!!