USAID/OTI Burundi Program Fact Sheet
October 2004
FY 2004 Budget - $7,600,000
Background
The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) began working in Burundi in March 2002 in response to significant advances toward ending nearly a decade of civil war – the August 2001 signing of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement (APRA) by 17 Hutu and Tutsi parties and the November 2001 establishment of a transitional government. The peace process advanced considerably when the largest Hutu rebel group, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) joined the transitional government in November 2003. With only one rebel group remaining outside the peace process and security improved in the majority of the country, the transitional government’s and international donors’ concerns began to include the rehabilitation of communities and the reintegration of refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and ex-combatants.
In response, in February 2004, OTI revised its Burundi program in order to strengthen 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 the Community-based Peace and Reconciliation Initiative (CPRI) and manage CPRI’s field offices in the provinces of Gitega and Ruyigi. Through CPRI’s Community-based Leadership Program (CBLP), vocational skills training (VST), community initiatives and media components, the four organizations encourage local-level cooperation for mutual problem solving, 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.
Community-based Leadership Program (CBLP): Master Trainers work in all communes and the program’s vocational skills training (VST) schools in Gitega and Ruyigi. They teach formal and informal leaders communication, conflict resolution and participatory decision-making skills so that they, in turn, can facilitate participation among community members in the identification and resolution of problems. CBLP will directly or indirectly reach all residents of Gitega and Ruyigi.
Vocational Skills Training (VST): In eight VST schools in Gitega and Ruyigi, participants learn masonry, roofing, carpentry, sewing, brick and tile making, and bread making, as well as literacy, numeracy and small business management. They also cover the CBLP curriculum and such topics as civic education, land laws and human rights. Upon graduation, students who form business associations will be eligible for small grants for start-up capital, equipment and materials. Over the program’s lifetime, close to 4,500 people will participate in VST courses.
Community Initiatives: Working with the CPRI team, groups involved in community initiatives may be eligible to receive support to complement their own efforts to resolve the common problems they have prioritized. While the tangible outputs of these in-kind grants may be small-scale infrastructure reconstruction, workshops or other activities held, or income-generating activities launched, each grant will have as its primary aim the promotion of local-level (or occasionally national-level) reconciliation.
Media: CPRI provides technical and financial support to two media partners for the production and dissemination of timely and balanced, local and national reporting related to the peace process. With program assistance, state-run Burundi National Radio and Television (RTNB) and independent RSF Bonesha FM (Bonesha) make weekly visits to Gitega, Ruyigi and other provinces to gather perspectives on the peace process, stories of heroism in mitigating conflict, and accounts of successful local-level reconciliation activities. They also attend national and international-level negotiations, ensuring that their reports quickly reach all residents in the country, thus increasing the national and international-level peace process’ local relevance.
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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