This October 18, 2021, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation His Excellency Ambassador Albert SHINGIRO received in audience Mrs. Aurélia Patrizia Calabrò, Representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and Director of the regional office in Ethiopia. They exchanged views on strengthening cooperation between Burundi and UNIDO in the industrialization sector.
The Minister informed his interlocutor that Burundi is still virgin territory when it comes to investment and industrialization. He further added that the President of the Republic of Burundi His Excellency Mr. Evariste NDAYISHIMIYE has placed his priority in the agro-food sector. For this, he continues to and that, the creation of small production units is one of the priorities of the Head of State. For this, he encouraged UNIDO to strengthen cooperation with Burundi, and especially in the field of agriculture and livestock because, it will be easy, given that it is in the policy of the Head of the State.
The Representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization greatly appreciated Burundi’s invitation to strengthen cooperation and announced that tannery is also a very interesting sector to develop in Burundi, given that Burundi has many very beautiful raw skins.
Note that UNIDO is the United Nations specialized agency that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability.
The mission of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), as described in the Lima Declaration adopted at the fifteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2013, as well as in the Declaration of Abu Dhabi adopted at the eighteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2019, is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in member states.
The relevance of ISID as an integrated approach to the three pillars of sustainable development is recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will frame the efforts of the United Nations and countries for sustainable development over the next ten years. . UNIDO’s mandate is fully recognized in SDG-9, which calls for “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. The relevance of ISID, however, applies to a greater or lesser extent to all SDGs.
