ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN BURKINA FASO, 22-23 APRIL

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, accompanied by his wife, Ban Soon-taek, flew from Monrovia, Liberia, to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso in the afternoon of Tuesday, 22 April.

At the Presidential Palace, he discussed the peace process in Côte d’Ivoire with the Facilitator of that process, Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaoré, whom he thanked for his work in the inter-Ivorian dialogue.  The Secretary-General told the press, following his meeting with President Compaoré, that he was encouraged that the Ivorian Government has set a date for elections on 30 November, and that he would encourage President Laurent Gbagbo to keep this commitment.

The Secretary-General also met with Burkina Faso’s Prime Minister, Tertius Zongo, and the President of the National Assembly, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, and discussed with them the Millennium Development Goals, good governance and poverty reduction.

That evening, the Secretary-General attended a state dinner hosted by President and Mrs. Compaoré, at which he was awarded a national medal of honour.

On Wednesday morning, the Secretary-General held a breakfast meeting with the United Nations country team, and later met with United Nations staff in a town hall meeting at the United Nations building in Koulouba.

Before he left Burkina Faso, the Secretary-General visited the Manegda School, a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)-supported primary school on the outskirts of Ouagadougou.  He planted a tree there and offered a gift of computers to the schoolchildren.  (See Press Release SG/SM/11527)

He departed at noon for Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.