Deputy Secretary Press Statement
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
November 14, 2007

Thank you all for coming this morning.  I am just finishing a productive visit to Burkina Faso, my first, as part of a four-country regional trip to West Africa.  I have been accompanied by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer.  We have already visited Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria. 

During my visit to Ouagadougou, I had separate meetings with President Compaore and Prime Minister Zongo about a range of bilateral, regional, and international issues.   President Compaore also graciously hosted us to a dinner last night with several of his key Ministers, including Prime Minister Zongo, Foreign Minister Bassole and Defense Minister Boly.  During a dinner toast, I congratulated President Compaore on Burkina Faso’s election during 2008-2009 to a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.  The United States was pleased by Burkina Faso’s election, and will be working closely and productively with your country in the UN to address a range of urgent regional and global issues.   

Conflict resolution and democratic development are two overarching themes of my visit.  I thanked President Compaore during our discussions for his continuing mediation efforts in Cote d’Ivoire.  As I indicated during our earlier stop in Abidjan, the United States calls upon all Parties to quickly implement the Ouagadougou Peace Accord.   The President and I also discussed U.S. efforts to help train and equip Burkinabe peacekeepers, whom we hope will be deployed to Darfur.   We also touched upon Burkina Faso’s on-going efforts to improve its business climate and fight against corruption.   Finally, I participated this morning in a breakfast discussion with a group of civil society leaders about Burkina Faso’s democratic development. 

Today, I am traveling to Mali, where I will represent the United States at the Community of Democracies Ministerial meeting.  Assistant Secretary Frazer will be leaving today for Freetown, Sierra Leone in order to represent the.United States at the inauguration of President Ernest Bai Koroma. 

During my visit to Ouagadougou, I have learned how our bilateral relations have improved greatly in recent years, both in quality and breadth.  The recent Millennium Challenge Threshold program to improve girls’ primary education completion rates, for example, has been a great success, and we hope in the coming months to conclude an MCC Compact that will bring a many fold increase in our development assistance in Burkina Faso. 

This concludes my introductory remarks.  I would be pleased to take your questions.