Burkina Faso has declared the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator, Carol Bernardine Flore-Smereczniak, “persona non grata,” accusing her of co-authoring a report on children in conflict zones that the government describes as false.
The announcement was made on Monday by government spokesman Gilbert Ouédraogo during a televised statement.
According to Burkinabe authorities, the report, titled Children and Armed Conflict in Burkina Faso, was prepared without “objective sources, evidence, or supporting documents” and contains “serious and false information.”
Ouédraogo said the report indiscriminately cited both terrorist groups and Burkina Faso’s defense and security institutions without presenting investigative reports or court rulings to substantiate the claims.
He criticized certain UN agencies for using “ambiguous terminology lightly and deliberately,” suggesting a perceived effort to legitimise the violence affecting Burkinabe civilians.
“The Resident Coordinator is no longer a credible interlocutor,” the government statement concluded, explaining the decision to expel Ms Flore-Smereczniak.
This is not the first time Burkina Faso has taken such a step. On 23 December 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared Barbara Manzi, the then UN Resident Coordinator, persona non grata, ordering her immediate departure.
Ms Flore-Smereczniak, a Mauritian national, presented her credentials to Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré on 23 July 2024.
She previously served as UNDP Resident Representative in Ivory coast from February 2020 and was tasked in Burkina Faso with coordinating the UN’s humanitarian and development initiatives, including the United Nations Interim Action Plan for Sustainable Development (UNIDAP 2023–2025).
By 2023, the United Nations had mobilized approximately $738.5 million (around 445 billion FCFA) to support Burkina Faso’s national priorities, focusing on food security, poverty reduction, and social cohesion.
The expulsion raises questions over the future of UN operations in the country and signals growing tensions between Ouagadougou and international agencies monitoring the humanitarian situation.
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