Topic: 2024-Situation in Burkina Faso
Country: UAE (UNSC)
Delegate Name: Aryan Katial
Topic A: The Situation in Burkina Faso
Since the Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration coup overthrew government power in January 2022, Burkina Faso has exponentially grown into instability on multiple fronts. Along with a significant increase in violence and killings of civilians surrounding the capital city, Ouagadougou, numerous terrorist organizations and Islamic militant groups have taken control of many different areas of the West African nation, resulting in less than half of its land under actual government control, and almost all of the country to be blockaded off to the world. More than 3% of Burkina Faso’s population, about 800,000 people live in entirely blockaded areas from independent Islamic groups. As a result of destruction across the country, more than 600 health facilities have closed down, leaving 2.4 Million people without healthcare and insurance. Burkina Faso’s median age is just barely 17. With 6000 Schools closed in the country, more than 1 Million students have been forced to be pulled out of their education. The coup and many of its allied militias have been pointed to be responsible for colossal amounts of violence, including targeting innocent children and other civilians. However, threats to political and social activists and journalists have caused difficult to make thorough reports and accusations.
With officially established diplomacy with Burkina Faso since 1978, The United Arab Emirates have been an important foreign humanitarian ally to the people, and it has been clear that the UAE has played a major role in aiding Burkina Faso in times of need. In 2020, when acts of extremism started to occur more often in the Sahel region of Africa, ministers of the UAE stated they are committed to help the nations of the region, including Burkina Faso, maintain stability. The United Nation Security Council has spoken out about Burkina Faso’s situation via press statements. In October 2022, a press statement issued by the Council president Michel Xavier Biang from Gabon said the UNSC disapproves of the instability in Burkina Faso, supports ECOWAS’s call to end the unconstitutional actions in the country, and strongly encourages international support to address its situation. When it comes to the coup d’etat in Burkina Faso, the UAE continues to be a significant helping hand, as they sent an aid plane containing 50 tonnes of food aid to Burkina Faso in January 2024. The UAE’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Aid for Development Affairs and International Organizations, Sultan Al Shamsi publicly stated that the aid plane was sent “to meet the needs of the most vulnerable categories of families impacted by food security challenges, who mainly consist of children, the elderly and women.”
Sources:
“UAE Sends 50 Tonnes of Food Aid to Burkina Faso.” The National, The National, 23 Jan. 2024, www.thenationalnews.com/uae/government/2024/01/23/uae-sends-50-tonnes-of-food-aid-to-burkina-faso/.
UAE Dispatches 50 Tonnes of Food Aid to Burkina Faso. www.mofa.gov.ae/en/mediahub/news/2024/1/23/23-1-2024-uae-burkina-faso.
Security Council Press Statement on Situation in Burkina Faso | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. 7 Oct. 2022, press.un.org/en/2022/sc15057.doc.htm.
