USAID/OTI Burundi Field Report
July 2004
Program Description
The Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) supports the ongoing peace process in Burundi as outlined in the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement (APRA) by strengthening local capacities to benefit from and contribute to the peace process. PADCO, Inc., the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) and the national NGO African Strategic Impact (ASI) implement this program and manage the program’s field offices in the provinces of Gitega and Ruyigi. Through their Community-based Leadership Program (CBLP), vocational skills training (VST), small grants and media components, the four organizations encourage local-level cooperation for mutual problem solving, the generation of new non-farm income, and the dissemination of timely and balanced information that encourages broad participation in discussions related to the peace process. The four organizations work closely with community groups, government entities, media outlets, NGOs, international organizations and other USAID offices to maximize the positive outcomes of their efforts. Since February 2004, OTI has invested $2,005,500 in these activities through seventy small grants.
Country Situation
BURUNDI CELEBRATES ITS INDEPENDENCE - On July 1, Burundi celebrated its independence with a parade of the newly formed National Defense Forces, comprised of military and ex-rebel National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) troops.
UNITED NATIONS PUTS PRESSURE ON THE FNL REBEL GROUP – The U.N. Mission in Burundi (UNOB) deployed 300 peacekeepers to Bujumbura Rural Province, where fighting continues between Agathon Rwasa’s National Liberation Forces (FNL) and the Burundian military. On July 17 in Nairobi, Kenya, the Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary General, Carolyn McAskie, called on Agathon Rwasa to sign a ceasefire and enter peace talks. The FNL requested a conditional ceasefire with the return of civilians to their homes and the military to their camps, as well as the departure of CNDD-FDD troops from Bujumbura Rural. The sides did not reach a mutually acceptable agreement.
UPRONA REJECTS CONSENSUS ON POST-ELECTIONS POWER-SHARING STRUCTURE – In Pretoria, South Africa on July 17, the South African Vice-President, Jacob Zuma, facilitated an agreement among representatives of the largest primarily Tutsi political party, Union for National Progress (UPRONA), the largest primarily Hutu political party, Front for a Democratic Burundi (FRODEBU), and the CNDD-FDD on the following post-elections, power-sharing structure: 60 percent Hutu and 40 percent Tutsi in the National Assembly and Cabinet; an even division between Hutus and Tutsis in the Senate; and 67 percent Hutu and 33 percent Tutsi among communal administrators. UPRONA, leading a group of five other primarily Tutsi parties, rejected the consensus reached in Pretoria, which also called for one Vice-President instead of two, as agreed upon in the APRA. Vice-President Kadege, an UPRONA leader, insisted that Tutsi representation cannot be assured by predominantly Hutu parties and that adequate power-sharing is a question of survival.
CNDD-FDD RETURNS TO THE GOVERNMENT – After almost three months of suspending their participation in government institutions, CNDD-FDD members returned to the National Assembly and the Council of Ministers on July 27. The CNDD-FDD withdrew from the key institutions on May 3 in protest over delays in appointing its members to political posts in accordance with the October 2003 power-sharing agreement they signed with the transition government.
POLITICAL PARTIES STRENGTHEN LOCAL STRUCTURES – With elections on the horizon, political parties are establishing committees at all provincial administrative levels: the colline (hillside); zone; and commune.
CURFEW IMPOSED IN RESPONSE TO INSECURITY – On July 12, the provincial government in Ruyigi imposed a midnight curfew in response to insecurity caused by members of a breakaway faction of the former rebel group CNDD-FDD.
USAID/OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
In July, WWICS trainer, Liz McClintock, returned to Burundi to lead the CBLP Master Trainers in their first follow-up training. The Master Trainers had been deployed to their assigned communes three weeks earlier. During the intervening time, working in pairs, they had introduced CBLP to their communes and facilitated their first trainings with selected members of the population. During the follow-up workshop, they discussed the CBLP curriculum and its implementation and coordination with the small grants component of the program, as well as with other organizations introducing similar trainings in Gitega and Ruyigi.
Marc Sommers, the WWICS evaluator for CBLP, also returned to Burundi during July for his second visit. He worked closely with OTI, PADCO and ASI program staff members monitoring the Master Trainers’ progress and deepening his understanding of the contexts in which they are working. His insights continue to help the program implementation team increase CBLP’s effectiveness.
In honor of the presence of WWICS staff and the all-Master Trainer training, PADCO hosted a program-wide event, which included government and NGO representatives with whom the staff regularly coordinates activities. As evidence of the program’s success in building collaborative and beneficial relationships with others with similar mandates, one NGO representative traveled from Bujumbura to Gitega for the sole purpose of attending the event.
In July, OTI approved 22 grants totaling $950,758, bringing the total number of grants approved to 70 and total funds committed to $2,005,529. The following grants highlight the program’s activities in July.
OTI awarded grants to its media partners, state-owned Burundi National Radio and Television (RTNB) and independent RSF Bonesha FM (Bonesha), to conduct three-month media outreach campaigns in Gitega, Ruyigi and other key provinces. Interviews with local populations on their views of the current political situation, their experiences during the civil conflict, and their hopes for the post-transition period are part of the program’s strategy to strengthen the role of media in supporting peace and reconciliation. As feedback from Bonesha listeners confirms, the media outreach project is particularly important as it helps rural residents express their opinions to their political leaders. Additionally, one communal administrator in Ruyigi noted that the media outreach campaigns were resulting in NGOs providing additional assistance in communities that were recently visited by the program’s media partners in order that they might gain publicity for their own activities.
Integration among program components is evident in all of the small grants approved in July. The Media team worked closely with the CBLP and Small Grants teams to identify individuals whose heroic efforts to save people from violence will be broadcast nationally on the OTI-funded “Unsung Heroes” program.
In Ruyigi, vocational skills trainers at the program’s VST schools are providing technical assistance to the community of Gisuru to rehabilitate their secondary school. This project is important because Ruyigi is one of the provinces that was badly affected by the conflict, with much of its infrastructure damaged or destroyed. The province is now welcoming many returning refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and ex-combatants. Through this project, the host and returning populations, the school and communal administrators, the Governor of Ruyigi, and the Ministry of Education are working together and responding to a shared priority.
In Gitega and Ruyigi, CBLP Master Trainers and leadership trainees worked with program staff to identify grassroots reconciliation initiatives. As a result, the program approved grants to support two women’s associations involved in reconciling diverse groups of people. The first is the Inamahoro Women’s Association, which uses theatrical performances to encourage communities to welcome returnees and to work together for the benefit of the commune. The second is the basket-weaving association, Twungurane Ubumenyi, which in Kirundi means “working together to improve our skills.” A former Burundian refugee in Tanzania founded the association. Buoyed by her success in starting eight self-sustaining groups in the Tanzanian camps, she returned to Burundi to reconcile returning and host population women through joint participation in income-generating activities. The program is helping the association launch their marketing activities in Ruyigi. To do so, the program is working closely with a local NGO supported by a partner USAID office, the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). This is part of a growing effort to strengthen linkages across USAID-supported partners. Recognizing that both associations serve as forums for women to share news, the program also granted each group radios to access media partners’ programs. These program provide information regarding the peace process and political transition, and highlight efforts to promote local reconciliation.
Finally, OTI awarded nine grants to finish the rehabilitation of eight vocational skills training schools in Gitega and Ruyigi and to conduct a workshop for school administrators and trainers. In collaboration with the Ministries of the Environment and of Arts, Skills Training, and Adult Literacy, the VST project gives people the skills necessary to generate off-farm income. With 90 percent of Burundians dependent on small-scale agriculture for their livelihoods, land scarcity fuels many conflicts. The return of refugees, IDPs and ex-combatants places increasing pressure on communities that are already facing land shortages. The VST program promotes reconciliation by bringing people together from returning and host populations to learn marketable skills and jointly participate in income-generating associations. Furthermore, skills training reduces individuals’ dependency on land-based income, and therefore reduces the risk of violent conflicts over scarce land.
B. Grant Activity Summary – USAID/OTI Burundi
| Build local and national constituencies for peace |
43 |
$1,288,681 |
| Increase community-level participation in local governance |
7 |
$ 84,114 |
| Improve livelihoods and/or increase economic opportunities |
20 |
$ 632,734 |
| Total |
70 |
$2,005,529 |
C. Indicators of Success
At a national news forum on media coverage for the upcoming elections, Burundi President, Domitien Ndayizeye, praised one of RSF Bonesha FM’s OTI-funded outreach programs in which Burundian citizens communicated their views on the current state of the political transition. Recorded in Bukirasazi Commune, Gitega, the program aired participants’ understanding of the elections process and their candid opinions on how the process should be organized. The President added that outreach programming is greatly needed in Burundi at this time and serves a vital role in bringing people’s voices and wishes to the attention of the political authorities.
D. Program Appraisal
Despite initial concerns of difficulty in recruiting women participants, CBLP Master Trainers successfully recruited an average of 50 percent women in ten of eleven communes in Gitega and 42 percent women overall in Ruyigi. Preliminary information from Gitega indicates that the total number of participants in ten of the eleven communes decreased between the first and third training sessions by approximately 20 percent. This data is complemented by anecdotal information from Master Trainers in Ruyigi, who also noticed a similar gradual decrease in participants. CBLP evaluator, Marc Sommers, posited in his July debrief that the decrease in participants may be attributed to the program’s policy against paying per diems. The joint interagency team of OTI, PADCO, ASI and WWICS is addressing the issue of retaining training participants and is making programmatic adjustments that honor OTI’s Code of Conduct in Burundi, but also acknowledge local realities. As a result, CBLP will receive small grants for training workshops to cover expenses of food and workshop materials. As an additional incentive, CBLP will award training certificates to participants.
NEXT STEPS/IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
- CBLP training of VST participants will begin in the Bwoga school in Gitega.
- Installation of equipment for the vocational schools will be completed and training will be provided to staff in its use and maintenance.
- The four vocational schools in Ruyigi will open in August.
- The Media Team will oversee the installment and training in the use of the new digital broadcasting equipment that it has provided for its media partners.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C.: Carlisle J. Levine, Program Manager at 202-712-0955 or clevine@usaid.gov
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