HER EXCELLENCY REVEREND DENISE NKURUNZIZA PAID A COURTESY VISIT TO EMINE ERDOĞAN, THE FIRST LADY OF REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

Thursday, May 26, 2016, 14:00, HE Denise Nkurunziza was received at the presidential residence of Ankara in Turkish Republic.

In a meeting that lasted 1hour 15min, Her Excellency Rev. Denise Nkurunziza made a general presentation on Burundi political and security situation. As a consequence of the political instability which shook the country of Burundi for many years, there are many orphans, widows and disabled people. With the restoration of peace and security, the county is in reconstruction process. The government of Burundi values the participation of woman in the management of public life at a percentage of 50% in the Parliament and 33% in the government; whereas the constitution grants 30% of seats to them.

To meet the needs of the people of Burundi, a presidential decree guaranteed free primary education for children and free health care for children below 5 years and pregnant women. The government found it mandatory to build schools, health centers and hospitals. The felt need is to build public facilities, equip them and train a qualified teaching and health care personnel.

As for humanitarian services, the First Lady of Burundi told Mrs Erdoğan that she created BUNTU Foundation to help the orphans, widows and the elderly. The foundation’s interventions are oriented towards promoting the orphans’ education and health care, especially the transfer abroad of patients from the most disadvantaged families. In education, the priority is oriented towards the construction and equipping technical schools to equip youth for. In addition, The First Lady precised that Burundi is one of the countries which still safeguards a rich natural heritage.

The Turkish First Lady commended the great works of HE Denise Nkurunziza for the people of Burundi and promising to visit Burundi in the near future. She also affirmed her contribution in mobilizing the Turkish investors to contribute to economic development in Burundi. “There is an urgency to open a Turkish Embassy in Burundi and have direct flight from Ankara to Bujumbura,” those were the wishes of Mrs. Emine Erdoğan. According to their discussion, some of the areas of investment and intervention include sea shipment, bilateral trade, services and expertise exchange.

In the evening of the day, Her Excellency Reverend Pastor Denise Nkurunziza paid a visit to YTB, an institution responsible for the award of scholarships to foreign students and also visited the Turkish International Cooperation Agency, TAKI.