President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso has held discussions with Alain Joyandet, France's secretary of state for cooperation, and United Nations special representative for Cote d'Ivoire Choi Young-Jin, according to official sources.
Speaking at the end of the meeting, which took place at the presidential palace on Thursday, the junior French minister was quoted as saying that he had sought to encourage President Compaore to continue mediating in the Cote d'Ivoire crisis.
Joyandet, who specifically handles President Nicolas Sarkozy's policies towards French-speaking countries, also welcomed the appointment of Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Djibril Bassole as the AU mediator in the Darfur conflict.
"We undertook a broad overview of the various international issues that are affecting the sub-region," said the secretary of state, who singled out Compaore for praise due to his role as a regional peacemaker.
In his address, the secretary of state for cooperation said that his country remained the single largest contributor to development in the country with 60 million euros (about 90 million U.S. dollars) per annum. He added that the French Development Agency was set to mobilize an additional 1 billion euros to support projects in 2009.
These additional funds will be used to support ventures that geared towards the achievement of economic development in different countries in Africa and to support young generations of Africa who desire to start their own businesses, he said.
Further, the junior minister said that France, during its six-month presidency of the European Union, will shift the partnership with Africa by working to strengthen economic development, especially in food production.
"We want to see the African continent taking ownership of its projects in which we will only become partners," he said, adding that France was committed to fulfill all the pledges it had made to African nations.
Elsewhere, President Compaore has met with UN special envoy for Cote d'Ivoire Choi Young-Jin to discuss the implementation of the Cote d'Ivoire peace process, the presidential palace announced in a statement Thursday.
The two sides, according to the statement, discussed various issues touching on financing the entire process, and especially the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) program.
"The reintegration of former combatants, which is faced with huge financial challenges, was discussed at the length," said the statement, which called on the international community to release more funds for the process.
Addressing a press briefing after the meeting, the UN diplomat said that his mission had launched an operation dubbed "1,000 micro projects" as part of efforts to ease tensions as the country prepares for crucial presidential polls later in the year.
Regarding logistical support for the polls, expected to mark the end of the peace process, the UN diplomat said that he was facing challenges, especially putting up buildings and transporting materials on time, issues which could ultimately mar the success of the polls.
Source: Xinhua
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