SITUATION REPORT 9 – 15 July 2007 UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES Office for the Coordination of Bureau de Coordination des Humanitarian Affairs in Burundi Affaires Humanitaires au Burundi http://ochaonline.un.org/Burundi http://ochaonline.un.org/Burundi ACTIVITIES AND UPDATES Update on repatriation Last week, UNHCR reported the return of 840 Burundian refugees who arrived from Tanzania through the entry points of Kobero / Muyinga province (182), Gisuru /Ruyigi province (248) and Mabanda / Makamba province (410). This is the first repatriation which has taken place since new measures to promote the return of Burundians from northwestern camps in Tanzania were announced. Nonetheless, statistics of previous years reveal that the present increase in the number of returnees is normal during this time of the year. Since the beginning of the UNHCR facilitated repatriation process in April 2002, the number of returnees normally starts increasing from May and peaks in August due to the end of the school year and harvests. The impact of the cash grant programme will be better evaluated through returnee caseloads starting from late September. During the period under review, 462 DRC refugees were transferred from Bujumbura to Musasa transit center (Ngozi province). To date, the total number of DRC refugees transferred to Gasorwe refugee camp and Musasa transit center in 2007 is 4,287. Update on Burundians expelled from Tanzania Expelled persons continue to arrive from Tanzania. During the reporting week, the Government project for the reintegration of war-affected persons (PARESI) registered 414 persons (205 families) expelled from Tanzania: 356 at the entry point of Kobero (Muyinga) and 58 in Mishiha (Cankuzo). Since January 2007, PARESI has recorded 4,461 expelled persons (2,349 families). The increase in arrivals is suspected to be linked with improper screening by boarder police. Protection, Sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) CARE International through its program Gezaho « stop » sexual and gender based violence trained nine nurses from the provinces of Muyinga, Bujumbura Rural and Bubanza in the management of anti-retroviral drugs. Through its national partner Synergie Burundaise contre les violences Sexuelles, twenty others were trained in providing psycho-social support to victims of violence in the communes of Mugongomanga and Bugarama/Bujumbura Rural province. CARE’s partner association for the protection and promotion of human rights (APRODH) organized a training session for local authorities and judiciary officers in the commune of Mpanda/Bubanza province. This training activity covered the legal framework that constitutes the protection of victims of sexual and gender based violence. In the province of Muyinga coordination committees met under the leadership of the General prosecutor. The Ministry of National Solidarity, Human Rights and Gender has taken the lead in coordinating activities focusing on sexual and gender-based violence. The first coordination meeting which was attended by various Ministries, UN agencies, international and national NGOs was held on 6 July. Other technical and coordination meetings are currently being scheduled by the above mentioned Ministry and CARE. Update on food aid distribution In collaboration with the following partner organizations: Action Contre la Faim (ACF), Gruppo Voluntariato Civile (GVC), CARE International, International Medical Corps (IMC), and World Vision For more information: E-mail: [email protected], Tel: +257 22 205000 Ext. 5542 SITUATION REPORT 9 – 15 July 2007 International (WVI), WFP distributed 427 MT to 23,604 beneficiaries. With the objective of providing assistance for a more sustainable food security, WFP has recently introduced a new technique for land management through terracing in Muyange/,Kayanza province. This activity is being carried out within the food for work programme. Under the same programme, another project submitted by the Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development (ACORD) which aims at rehabilitating the marshland area of Gisurura/ Cendajuru commune in Cankuzo province is under consideration. Agriculture / Food Security Over the reporting period, the FAO/Emergency Rehabilitation and Coordination Unit (FAO/ERCU) continued identifying field partners, sites for the multiplication of seeds and beneficiary community- based associations, within the framework of its project for the restoration of sustainable food security (PARSAD). This activity was carried out in the provinces of Muyinga and Cankuzo. Targeted beneficiaries are community-based associations in 13 sites in the provinces of Muyinga (8) and Cankuzo (5) where members undertake seed multiplication activities in identified sites and marshland. Supervision of these associations is ensured by agronomists from the provincial department of agriculture (DPAE), national and international NGOs operating in the two provinces namely; Association pour la promotion des cooperatives de production, de vente et d’approvisionnement (APROCOBU), association pour le soutien des maladies orphelins du Sida de Muyinga (ASMOSIM), Association pour le développement intégral des communautés (ADIC), ACORD, Caritas Belgium and World Vision International. Priority crops have been identified. This PARSAD project which is being financed by the European Commission was first launched in late June 2007 in the provinces of Ruyigi and Rutana. UNICEF support to training in child rights protection Supported by UNICEF through its Protection programme, the Observatory for child rights in Burundi (OIDEB) organized a three day training session for street children in Bujumbura. This training session is one of the major activities of actors involved in the protection of child rights (PIERS). Support to the education system On 12 July, UNICEF handed over 72 classrooms to the Ministry of Education which were constructed as part of ongoing efforts to meet increasing needs generated by the 2005 Presidential decree on free primary education. The new classrooms were constructed in 12 primary schools in the communes of Gashikanwa, Kiremba, Marangara, Mwumba, Ngozi, Nyamurenza and Tangara in the province of Ngozi. Multisector, more houses for the vulnerable During the provincial coordination meeting held in Makamba on 11 July, partners involved in the shelter sector announced that about 7,000 houses will be constructed in 2007. Some houses have already been completed while others are still under construction. However, compared to the needs which will arise following the massive repatriation of Burundians from Tanzania by December 2007, more houses will need to be built. Actors operating in this sector include: the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), World Relief, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), Protestant Church, Norwegian Church Aid, CEFOGE and GTZ. OCHA also advised these actors to provide additional support to promote repatriation. Contact Group meeting During this month’s Contact Group meeting which was chaired by the OCHA Head of Office, the FAO/Emergency rehabilitation and coordination unit presented the Integrated Food Security and Humanitarian Phase Classification (IPC). This mechanism is coordinated by FAO/ERCU in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the Ministry of Public health, WFP, For more information: E-mail: [email protected], Tel: +257 22 205000 Ext. 5542 SITUATION REPORT 9 – 15 July 2007 UNICEF, OCHA and Action Contre la Faim (ACF) as a member of the executive committee for the network of international NGOs (RESO). Latest developments From 16-17 July, OCHA carried out a follow up mission to Muyinga further to a meeting (26 June) between the Governor of Muyinga and partners involved in providing assistance to expelled persons. The main aim of the mission was to ensure that recommendations of the meeting were being adhered to; particularly the registration of expelled persons from Tanzania by the Ministry of Interior through the PAFE (Police de l'Air, des Frontières et des Etrangers). Screening of new arrivals at the border which was previously done by PARESI was handed over to the PAFE. As such, it is expected that the number of fraudulent cases which were undetected will reduce. On July 18th, the Government of the Arabic Republic of Egypt through its embassy in Bujumbura donated food aid comprised of 125 MT of rice, 100 MT of maize flower and 7MT of vegetable oil. This food assistance which is destined for vulnerable groups of society was welcomed by the President of Burundi, who announced that it will target the most vulnerable persons; thereby complementing WFP’s assistance to the nation. For more information: E-mail: [email protected], Tel: +257 22 205000 Ext. 5542 .