In a statement released on Saturday, Mr Guterres said he had full confidence in the UN system in Burkina Faso and in Ms Manzi’s commitment and professionalism.
Burkina Faso has suffered from political instability for years and experienced two military coups in 2022 alone. This year also saw a continuation of the deadly terrorist attacks that have long plagued the country: there have been at least 79 killed A minibus is said to have hit a landmine in an attack on a town in the north of the country in June and on Monday, killing around 10 people.
Amidst this lack of security, Burkina Faso faces a huge humanitarian crisis that has left more than a million people in Burkina Faso displaced from their homes, victims of ongoing conflict and poverty.
In November in a blog released from UN News, Ms Manzi described the vulnerability of education and health services to terrorist groups, many of which have been forced to close, compounding the crisis.
According to media reports, the Burkina Faso Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited Ms Manzi’s decision to withdraw non-essential personnel from the capital, Ouagadougou, as justification for declaring her persona non grata.
However, as Mr. Guterres emphasized in his statement, the persona non grata doctrine does not apply to United Nations officials.
“In accordance with Articles 100 and 101 of the United Nations Charter, United Nations staff are appointed by the Secretary-General, who is responsible only to the organization, and United Nations member states undertake to respect their exclusively international character,” the UN chief said.
The statement went on to explain that UN staff have the right to remain in Burkina Faso to perform their duties on behalf of the organization and that only the UN Secretary-General, as the organization’s chief administrative officer, has the right to terminate any official withdrawn from the United Nations.
Mr. Guterres reiterated the United Nations’ commitment to continue to work with the transitional authorities in Burkina Faso and to support the country and its people.
