New Ambassador from Burundi, Thérence Ntahiraja Makes Maiden Speech to ACP Committee of Ambassadors
Brussels, 31 January 2020/ACP: The ACP Committee of Ambassadors (CoA) recently welcomed the new Ambassador of the Republic of Burundi to their midst at their 926th Meeting.
Ambassador Thérence Ntahiraja, immediately prior to his appointment as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Burundi in Brussels, served from November 2018 as Permanent Secretary at the Chancellery of the National Orders of the Republic and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communication and Media.
During his career as a senior official he held the posts of Provincial Director of Education, Governor of the Makamba Province, Chair of the Mabanda town council and adviser to the President of the Republic on political, diplomatic and cooperation matters.
Having distinguished himself while performing the duties assigned to him, he was appointed as chair and member of several national commissions and steering committees for projects seeking to organize the territorial administration of, among other things, land issues, local development and peace consolidation in his country and region.
He was later promoted to the post of Assistant to the Minister of the Interior, Patriotic Education and Local Development. In this post, he successfully oversaw the Steering committee of the project entitled “Promoting the Role of Women in Peace Consolidaton’, which was implemented by UN Women, in collaboration with the Government of Burundi.
In his inaugural address to the CoA, Ambassador Ntahiraja, reiterated his country’s belief in the three pillars of multilateralism, South-South and Triangular Cooperation and in the necessity for solidarity within the ACP Group as contained in the document “Towards the ACP We Want” and presented two priority issues for Burundi in 2020, namely, the national elections and the implementation of the National Development Plan for 2018-2027.
In speaking about the Elections, he stressed that “nothing was spared to ensure that the Elections were the free, transparent, democratic, peaceful and inclusive” and laid out steps to be taken in this regard.
Speaking about the National Development Plan, Ambassador Ntahiraja emphasized that it aimed at the structural transformation of the economy through the revitalization of the sectors charged with supporting growth and job creation and defined ten priority investment sectors identified by the Government of Burundi.
After sharing other issues of national concern with the CoA, the newest ACP Ambassador closed his presentation by welcoming them to visit Burundi to witness firsthand the “significant advancements with respect to peace, security, political dialogue, freedom of expression, respect for human rights, the return and resettlement of refugees and respect for the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement.”
In turn, members of the Committee extended the usual cordial welcome and pledged their assistance during his tour of duty.
Photo: (L-R) Secretary General, H.E. Patrick I. Gomes, Ambassador Ntahiraja, Chair of the Committee of Ambassadors, H.E. Joshua Kalinoe of Papua New Guinea
Visit our Flickr Gallery to see more photos of the Presentation