BUJUMBURA July 13th (ABP) – The Ministry of East African Community Affairs, Youth, Sports and Culture notes a largely positive assessment in the integration sector.
Minister Ezéchiel Nibigira pointed this out on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, during a press conference aimed at the presentation of the achievements the ministry made from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, a check by ABP revealed.
The Minister notes the participation of the Republic of Burundi in the statutory and non-statutory meetings of the East African Community according to the schedule of activities. To that end, he said that Burundi actively participated in 335 physical regional meetings, 358 virtual meetings, 31 national consultation meetings and 17 decision-making meetings, including six meetings organized in Burundi. These include the meeting of the Sector Council of Ministers in charge of Transport, Communication and Meteorology, held in Bujumbura, from February 6 to 10, 2023; the 23rd Meeting of the Sector Council of Ministers of Health, held in Bujumbura from February 6 to 10, 2023; the 43rd ordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers of East African Community Affairs, held in Bujumbura, from February 19 to 23 2023; the 36th meeting of the Sectoral Council of Ministers in charge of Defense Cooperation.
Other statutory meetings in which Burundi participated, concern the 18th ordinary meeting of the Sector Council for Education, Science and Technology, Sports and Culture, held in Bujumbura, from June 5 to 9, 2023; the 6th ordinary meeting of the Sector Council on Gender, Children, Youth, Social Protection and Community Development, held in Bujumbura, from June 19 to 23, 2023.
The ministry in charge of EAC also drew up a statistical yearbook of the ministry, 2020/2021 edition, and the organization of the 5th edition of the festival of arts and culture of the East African Community, JAMAFEST, in Burundi, in September 2022.
Burundi’s participation in the various activities of JAMAFEST has allowed the increase and promotion of the visibility of Burundian cultural identity, according to Minister Nibigira.
The ministry also notes the organization of workshops and campaigns to raise awareness and exchange of information on projects and programs of the East African Community, organized on themes of integration within the latter. In that perspective, an awareness-raising and information-sharing workshop was organized and held in Cibitoke province from February 2 to 3, 2023, and a workshop for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of projects and programs which was organized in Bujumbura, from March 22 to 24, 2023.
In the same vein, a High-Level Forum, on the mid-term evaluation of Burundi’s leadership at the East African Community Summit, was also organized and held on March 28, 2023, in Bujumbura.
The dissemination of laws passed by the East African Legislative Assembly, within the framework of the East African Community, is also among the major annual achievements of the EAC Ministry in the field of integration.
It is worth pointing out that the achievements of that ministry cover four key sectors of intervention, namely the field of the integration of Burundi within the East African Community, the field of Youth, the field of Sports and that of Culture, as well as the personalized administrations which are under the supervision of that ministry.