Government rejects UN envoy's proposal on donor forum

The Burundian government has rejected a proposal by the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative to the country, Carolyn McAskie, for a forum of the country's donor partners. The forum, according to a document from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, would have replaced the Implementation and Monitoring Committee provided for in the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Accord, whose mandate expired in August 2005. The accord established Burundi's transitional government and was signed by the country's political parties in August 2000 in Arusha, Tanzania. The transitional government ended in August 2005 with democratic elections. In its document, the ministry said the forum would not have been a "response to [a] Burundi government request as Burundi never asked for it". McAskie, who had headed the implementation committee, proposed the forum soon after the country's transitional period ended. The government had asked for time to consider the proposal, which explained the forum's objectives, mandate and composition. The forum would have comprised members of the UN Security Council, the countries of the regional initiative on Burundi, the UN, the African Union and bilateral and multilateral partners. Its main objective would have been to mobilise funds for the country. The Burundi government believes the forum's mandate would have gone beyond the mobilisation of funds, to include undertaking tasks within the domain of the government such as "to support the new institutions in the implementation of the government policy and priorities". The forum would have justified the extension of the mandate of the UN operation in Burundi, the government also said in reaction to the proposal. However, the government and the UN Mission in Burundi (ONUB) had already agreed on the progressive disengagement of UN peacekeepers to be completed within six months. The Mozambican contingent was the first to leave the country, in December 2005. The 817 peacekeepers of the Kenyan battalion are due to leave in February. The document also maintained that the proposed forum seemed to be restraining and would have been likely to undermine current bilateral and multilateral relations with Burundi partners, who would have had the tendency to consult the forum rather than the government. ONUB spokesman Toure Penangnini declined to comment either on the government's reaction or on the proposed forum. Burundi is preparing a donor conference in the capital, Bujumbura, in late February. It is seeking US $168 million for its emergency programme in 2006, of which $75 million would go to aid for drought-stricken populations.