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FM AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3674
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RHMFISS/CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0642

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OUAGADOUGOU 000404 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR AF/W EMILY PLUMB, JASON HUTCHISON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PARM EAID ECON UNSC SENV ZI IV UV
SUBJECT: UN SECGEN DISCUSSES REGIONAL, GLOBAL ISSUES WITH UNSC 
NON-PERMANENT MEMBER BURKINA FASO 
 
OUAGADOUGO 00000404  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: On April 22-24, U.N. Secretary General (UNSG) Ban Ki 
Moon visited Burkina Faso as part of a regional tour including 
Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and Liberia.  With President Compaore, the 
Secretary General discussed: 
 
-- Cote d'Ivoire peace process (praising Compaore's leadership), 
-- Regional security (Mali, Niger, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Central 
African Republic; arms and drugs trafficking), 
-- Zimbabwe (credibility of African leaders at stake); -- Rising 
living costs (global problem with no quick fixes); and, 
-- Climate change (which could destabilize countries like Burkina 
Faso e.g. because of desertification). 
 
Ban Ki Moon's spouse met with Burkina Faso's first lady to discuss 
development assistance to women and children.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) During an April 22-24 visit to Ouagadougou, UNSG Ban Ki 
Moon discussed a variety of regional and global issues with Burkina 
Faso President Blaise Compaore.  Ban Ki Moon visited Ouagadougou 
because Burkina Faso has a non-permanent seat on the UN Security 
Council for 2008-2009, and because of President Compaore's position 
as current President of the Economic Community of West African 
States (ECOWAS), and Facilitator of the Ouagadougou Political Accord 
(OPA) for Cote d'Ivoire.  Ban Ki Moon raised with Compaore, and 
separately with Prime Minister Tertius Zongo, the Millennium 
Development Goals, poverty reduction, good governance, and the 
following regional and global issues: 
 
Cote d'Ivoire Peace Process 
--------------------------- 
¶3. (SBU) Ban Ki Moon publicly lauded Compaore's role as OPA 
Facilitator of the Cote d'Ivoire peace process.  While UNSG was 
optimistic about the process because of Compaore's involvement, he 
noted the urgent need for additional resources to finance 
Presidential elections set for November 30.  MOFA Cabinet Director 
Vincent Zakane told PAO and PolOff April 28 that there had already 
been pledges from France, China, and 22 other nations, but that the 
GOCI could not bear the entire costs of holding elections, and thus 
was seeking more donor aid. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Cote d'Ivoire Government has also incurred 
administrative costs and issues such as those associated with the 
identification process that will need to be completed before the 
elections, Zakane added.  In this regard, U.N Country Representative 
Babacar Cisse told Ambassador April 29 that the French operator, 
SAGEM, had asked Cote d'Ivoire for about 60 million USD and nine 
months to produce ID and voter registration cards -- a figure and 
timeframe that Cisse thought were high.  Cisse recalled that in the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country with three times the 
population of Cote d'Ivoire, this process had only cost the 
government USD 50 million dollars, using a different company. 
 
Regional Security in West Africa, Sudan 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Compaore raised with Ban Ki Moon the Tuareg situations in 
Mali and Niger, as well as political tensions in Guinea, Guinea 
Bissau, and the Central African Republic, Zakane said.  Compaore and 
the UNSG noted an increase in arms and drug trafficking in the 
region.  They called for increased regional cooperation to address 
this problem, which is being exacerbated by Libya and Algeria, who 
sell arms to opposing rebellion groups.  Finally, UNSG noted with 
satisfaction Burkina's participation in UN peacekeeping operations 
on the African continent. 
 
Zimbabwe: Mugabe Hurts Credibility of African Leaders 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Ban Ki Moon also discussed the elections in Zimbabwe by 
phone on April 22 with A.U. chairperson Professor Alpha Konare, 
Cisse told Ambassador.  UNSG told Compaore that, although Zimbabwe 
has nothing to do with West Africa, the elections there would affect 
the entire continent.  Because of President Mugabe's refusal to 
recognize the results of the first round of Presidential elections, 
the credibility of African leaders was at stake.  Compaore responded 
with concern that the involvement of other southern African leaders, 
such as South African President Thabo Mbeki, had only contributed to 
the problem.  Compaore suggested instead that the issue be brought 
before the African Union's Peace and Security Commission. 
 
The Rising Cost of Living: No Quick Regional Fixes 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
OUAGADOUGO 00000404  002.4 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7. (U) Both UNSG and Compaore agreed that current skyrocketing 
prices of basic food goods and gasoline, along with a decrease in 
global cotton prices, were a poor combination for Burkina Faso and 
other countries in the region.  The crisis has the potential to 
destabilize many nations, and in particular to undermine Burkina 
Faso's efforts to combat poverty and promote development.  Ban Ki 
Moon assured his Burkinabe interlocutors of the UN's assistance in 
addressing these challenges, adding, however, that populations must 
realize that the problem was global and not local.  Its solution 
must also be global and durable, Ban Ki Moon said, not the product 
of quick-fixes from individual governments such as tax breaks, which 
can deplete needed resources for social services.  In June, the UNSG 
will meet in Rome at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization 
(FAO) to discuss these issues with a task force composed of FAO, 
IMF, the European Economic Community, and others. 
 
Climate Change: Destabilizing Burkina Faso? 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) UNSG and Compaore also shared concerns about the negative 
impact of climate change on the environment.  Both stressed that the 
climate change had exacerbated drought and desertification and 
caused human suffering.  Additionally, it had seriously affected 
agricultural production in Burkina Faso.  Ban Ki Moon disclosed that 
this situation could have destabilizing affects on countries like 
Burkina Faso.  The two discussed the need for increasing financing 
for research and development, and finding alternative sources of 
energy. 
 
Madame Ban Ki Moon Met with Burkina's First Lady 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶9. (U) While her husband was busy meeting with Burkinabe senior 
authorities, Madame Yoo Ban Soon Taek met with first lady Madame 
Chantal Compaore.  Madame Compaore briefed her guest on the social 
and economic conditions of women and children in Burkina Faso. 
(Note.  Burkina Faso's widespread illiteracy, negative social and 
cultural attitudes towards women, and abject poverty are impediments 
to the emergence of female political and economic leadership. End 
Note).  Madame Yoo Ban Soon Taek visited a handicraft training 
center for women in Ouagadougou to see some of Burkina's efforts to 
promote women and children.  Following their meeting, Madame Yoo Ban 
Soon Taek promised to look at the possibility to have partnership 
with the Suka Foundation for women and children that Madame Compaore 
has been running. 
 
JACKSON