Weekly Humanitarian News 15 – 21 SEPTEMBER 2008 UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES

Office for the Coordination of Bureau de la Coordination Humanitarian Affairs in Burundi des Affaires Humanitaires au Burundi http://ochaonline.un.org/Burundi http://ochaonline.un.org/Burundi Activities and Updates

- Agricultural revenue (agricultural accom- Coordination/Contact Group meet‐ paniment) and non-agricultural (vocational ing trainings and micro-credits); At Contact Group meeting held on September 17th, - Access to administrative departments participants were briefed on UNHCR Repatriation Promotion; - Promotion and development of the intra- Programme and the presentation of the Villagisa- community exchanges - consolidation and tion approach. development of the social fabric. The UNHCR gave an overview on the repatriation planning for 2008 and 2009. Ninety thousands Bu- Executive Representative of the rundian refugees in Tanzania are expected in S.G.’s visit to 2008 but the figures could increase. In 2009, The Executive 56,000 Burundian refugees will be assisted by representative of the UNHCR: 15,000 from 1972 old settlements camps Secretary General / and 41,000 former 1993 refugees. Humanitarian and As of August 2008, UNHCR has repatriated Resident Coordinator around 70,000 Burundian refugees: 54,000 of of the UN in Burundi 1993 and 15,000 of 1972. Ongoing operations are visited the province the facilitation of the return of 1972 refugees at of Makamba. The Makamba Province, in Rumonge commune (Bu- focus of the visit was ruri) and at . The repatriation in the issues affecting the North (Muyinga) is finished. Pending chal- returnees and the lenges are the identification of durable solutions local population. The for landless returnees and the establishment of ERSG visited the "Integrated Rural Villages”. The challenges identi- Children in Kibago locality of Kibago, fied were: where spontaneous General considerations returnees and the population who had stayed dur- ing the crisis recently clashed over land issues. - Increasing land pressure; - Agriculture = 90 % economic activity; Because of the clashes, most returnees are stay- - Very strong density of population; ing around the administrative centre of the com- - Unprecedented Population growth; mune. - Impoverishment of soils; The priority actions identified for the returnees in - Limited size of plots for farming and dis- Kibago were the provision of basic services such persed habitat in rural areas. Integrated Rural villages as shelter, water and health. In addition, support would be provided to the CNTB (Commission Na- - New villages or extensions of existing vil- tionale Terres et Autres Biens) to settle land dis- lages; - Access to the land (housing and land of putes and identify durable solutions for returnees agriculture); and opportunities for development for the entire - Access to the water and the promotion of community. The ERSG also visited the repatriation a sanitation policy; centres in Gitara, Mabanda commune. - Access to the education and to the health; - Links to road networks and the other so- cioeconomic infrastructures;

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Repatriation of Burundian refu‐ The workshop led to the establishment of provin- cial platforms for disaster prevention and mitigation gees and allowed participants to review their levels of During the reporting period, 1,895 returnees ar- preparedness in case of an emergency. rived in Burundi. 321 entered through Ruyigi on one convoy, and 1,574 through Makamba (994 Human rights violations former 1972 refugees from Tanzania’s Old Settle- This week, the human rights situation was marked ments, and 580 from Mtabila camp). Seven re- by the prevalence of intimidation by state officials turnees arrived spontaneously from the Old Settle- and impunity. On 15 September, ’s Anti- ments. Corruption Court Prosecutor ordered the arrest and detention of Juvénal Rududura, vice-chair of Assistance to Burundians expelled the non-magistrate judicial personnel union, follow- from Tanzania ing unfounded corruption accusations leveled The Government project for the reintegration of against the Ministry of Justice. In the same vein, war-affected persons (PARESI) registered 150 Bujumbura mayor banned a Union pour la Paix et Burundians (36 families) expelled from Tanzania le Développement (UPD-Zigamibanga) party’s who arrived through the entry points of meeting while a local representative of the same Gisuru/ 2 persons (1 families), party is detained in Nyanza-Lac Commune, Mishiha/ 19 persons (7 families), Makamba Province since 8 September for organiz- Mabanda/Makamba Province 123 persons (27 ing a political meeting, despite fulfilling the legal families) and Kobero/ 6 persons prerequisites. Finally on 18 September, in the ab- (1 families). sence of the defendants, the tribunal de grande instance (TGI) adjourned the trial against 3 PNB Update on food aid distribution officers who allegedly mistreated 22 individuals in WFP distributed 1,313 MT of food aid to 104,160 October 2007 in Rutegama commune, Muramvya beneficiaries in the country. The big part of this Province. The victims’ lawyer protested against assistance (90 %) was distributed in the various what he considered as delaying tactics. areas of Ngozi, Kirundo, Muyinga, Ruyigi and Ru- Meanwhile, violations of the right to life and to tana provinces; seriously affected by food short- physical integrity persisted as well as accusation of ages. human rights abuses against alleged Palipehutu- FNL/Rwasa and dissidents, particularly in the prov- Workshop in Ngozi inces of Bubanza and Muramvya. OCHA organised a Humanitarian Preparedness With regard to the children’s right to education, the workshop in Ngozi, over the reporting period. The Burundian government continues to struggle to workshop was attended by representatives from cope with the huge increase in numbers of pupils the provinces of Muyinga, Ngozi, Kirundo and subsequent to the introduction of free primary edu- Kayanza. cation in 2005. With the resumption of the school It was focused on 6 points: year this week, serious challenges remain includ- 1. The Disaster Reduction platform at the provin- ing shortages in terms of teachers, classrooms and cial level and its linkages with the PANA, the school furniture. CSLP and the Millennium Development Goals; In the framework of the integrated strategy to fight 2. Mapping of the disasters, preparation and an- sexual violence against women and children, six swer to emergencies in the region Centre-East; sensitization sessions were held in five different 3. The coordination structures of the humanitar- provinces. Three hundred and eight participants ian assistance in Burundi; including 117 men were in attendance. In the 4. Simulation exercise on an emergency to iden- meantime, a conference was held on transitional tify each parties role; justice for representatives of trade unions, civil so- 5. Inventory of the activities to be undertaken for ciety and the media. Furthermore, the HR&JD and an improved preparedness to the risks in the re- the Supreme Court jointly conducted a series of gion central East; training sessions on ethics for 159 magistrates in- 6. The mandate and the role of the ‘GCP’ (Coor- cluding 28 women from Makamba, Bururi and Ru- dination Group of the Partners) in the coordination tana jurisdictions. of transitional programmes from the emergency to the development:

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