BURUNDI / GUTERRES VISIT DAY 2

STORY: BURUNDI / GUTERRES VISIT DAY 2
TRT: 02:14
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 06 MAY 2023, BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, participants
2. SOUNDBITE (French) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The Great Lakes region is enormously rich. Naturally rich - thanks to its vast resources. And culturally rich thanks to its people. But year after year, this incredible richness is undermined by theft, conflict and crises. For decades, the peoples of the region have suffered from looting and violence. The signing of the Framework, ten years ago, raised many hopes.”
3. Med shot, President Évariste Ndayishimiye
4. SOUNDBITE (French) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Unfortunately, the current crisis shows that much still remains to be done. Despite our collective efforts, more than 100 Congolese and foreign armed groups are still operating in the country today, threatening the stability of the entire Great Lakes region.”
5. SOUNDBITE (French) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“In the DRC, since the resurgence of M23 in November 2021, more than 500,000 people have had to flee. The situation in Ituri Province remains extremely worrisome. It is time for the violence to end. I reiterate my call to all the armed groups. Lay down your arms – immediately – and rejoin the demobilization, disarmament and reintegration process. I also urge the political and community leaders to put an end to hate speech and incitement to violence, which only exacerbate tensions and move us further away from peace.”
6. Wide shot, participants
7. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The heritage of the DRC belongs to the Congolese people. We must ensure that it becomes a source of prosperity and development – not of conflict, rivalries and unsustainable exploitation. Peace and development must go hand in hand, and for peace to be sustainable, the voices of women, young people and displaced persons must be fully heard – in all political, security and judicial processes.”
8. Wide shot, Guterres at the podium

STORYLINE:

Speaking at the opening of the high-level meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the region in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, Secretary-General António Guterres today (6 May) reiterated his call to all the armed groups to lay down their arms “immediately and rejoin the demobilization, disarmament and reintegration process.”

The UN chief said, the Great Lakes region is “enormously rich,” but “year after year, this incredible richness is undermined by theft, conflict and crises.”

He said, “for decades, the peoples of the region have suffered from looting and violence” but the signing of the Framework Agreement ten years ago, had “raised many hopes.”

Unfortunately, Guterres said, “the current crisis shows that much still remains to be done.”

He noted that “more than 100 Congolese and foreign armed groups are still operating in the country today, threatening the stability of the entire Great Lakes region.”

The Secretary-General said, “In the DRC, since the resurgence of M23 in November 2021, more than 500,000 people have had to flee” and stressed it was “time for the violence to end.”

He also urged political and community leaders “to put an end to hate speech and incitement to violence, which only exacerbate tensions and move us further away from peace.”

Guterres concluded by saying “the heritage of the DRC belongs to the Congolese people. We must ensure that it becomes a source of prosperity and development – not of conflict, rivalries and unsustainable exploitation. Peace and development must go hand in hand, and for peace to be sustainable, the voices of women, young people and displaced persons must be fully heard – in all political, security and judicial processes.”

With a focus on ending recurring cycles of violence in DRC and resolving conflict, tackling instability, and building sustainable peace in the region, the high-level meeting will review progress and challenges on implementing the Framework agreement, signed in Ethiopia in 2013, including by the guarantor institutions: the UN, African Union, International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).