SHARED SECURITY CASE STUDY: BURUNDI Breaking cycles of violence Through healing, reconciliation, and shared livelihoods JULY 2016 Frederic underwent a remarkable transformation from child soldier to trusted husband, father, and shop owner. His is one of many stories that demonstrate the possibility—and urgency— of helping individuals and communities heal, reconcile, and commit to resolving problems peacefully in the immediate aftermath of war. 2 AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE rederic Ngenzebuhoro was 14 years old when he fled his hometown and joined a Burundian rebel movement in the bush, taking up arms in the country’s civil war. FWhen the war ended in 2003, he found himself traumatized by his experience as a combatant, feared by his neighbors at home, and uncertain of how to survive without a weapon. These circumstances could have trapped Frederic in new cycles of violence. Instead, he settled in a Peace Village where ex-combatants like himself, returning refugees, and others internally displaced by the war were actively supported by the international community, including AFSC, in healing, rebuilding their communities, and laying foundations for lasting peace. Association of Saving and Lending, Makamba Province. In the Peace Village where Frederic lived, AFSC helped establish a savings and loan association. Participants met each week to administer a community that promote social cohesion. Participants attend banking system they created, and members added weekly meetings where they acquire new skills in money to both a savings and solidarity investment management and conflict transformation, and support fund. Members accessed the savings fund for loans each other to build peace. that helped with income-generating activities while the After one year, our focus shifts to helping the solidarity investment fund provided gifts to members associations become self-reliant. At the end of two in times of crisis such as a family illness or death. years, the associations are strong enough that they Members participated for a year, taking and only need limited technical assistance. We can then repaying loans or gifts as needed. At the end of the redirect resources to help create similar groups in other year, each member received their entire savings with locations or new associations in the same village. accumulated interest, which provided additional In one clear marker of success, the associations capital for their income-generating activities. Each become more than an observed need by AFSC; they person would then decide whether to rejoin or leave become an expressed need by local communities the group. committed to fostering everyone’s well-being. It’s a simple, effective system that AFSC has Their success is measured by individual and replicated in other parts of Burundi where we work. community change. Frederic underwent a remarkable The associations help to increase individual and family transformation from child soldier to trusted husband, income while building cohesion in new communities father, and shop owner. His is one of many stories like the Peace Villages. They provide a network and an that demonstrate the possibility—and urgency—of entry point for healing and reconciliation that helps helping individuals and communities heal, reconcile, build long-term peace. and commit to resolving problems peacefully in the As household incomes improve, AFSC works with immediate aftermath of war. association members on trauma healing and activities SHARED SECURITY CASE STUDY: BURUNDI 3 Association of Saving and Lending, Rutana Province. I. Executive Summary After decades of conflict, the people of Burundi shared commitment to resolving problems peacefully. have begun to reknit the social and economic fabric In post-conflict environments such as Burundi, a focus necessary for a resilient, thriving society. It remains a on shared security can help people take concrete steps fragile process, one that AFSC is helping to strengthen toward a safe, prosperous future for themselves and with an integrated, three-fold approach to peace their families. building that involves: Burundi endured many years of violent conflict that had both ethnic and political dimensions. Thanks • Income-generating activities to support economic to the Arusha Peace Agreement of August 2000, recovery and sustainable livelihoods. Burundians began working together for peace. This broad-based desire for peace—which included a strong • Trauma healing to promote trust and overcome the commitment to restore broken bonds and support one wounds of war. another in regaining their human dignity—encouraged the international community to support these efforts. • Social cohesion and reconciliation activities that AFSC’s experience in Burundi has made it clear strengthen relationships within communities. that work at the local level—what peace-building experts often call “peace writ little”—can and must be One of the pillars of AFSC’s peace-building work in extended to influence larger political and transitional Burundi, and other places, is a commitment to shared processes, or “peace writ large.”1 This helps ensure the security. Shared security is a state in which people, communities, and countries derive their sense of security from mutual well-being, just policies, and a 1 See Reflecting on Peace Practice and other works by Mary Anderson and the Collaborative for Development Alternatives. 4 AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE structural change needed for peace to take hold more While international policymakers and donors are broadly in society. learning that the work of building a durable peace goes To these ends, AFSC has regularly brought together far beyond signing an agreement, resources remain key policymakers and national leaders with members heavily concentrated on governmental processes such of civil society to promote reconciliation, healing, as electoral and constitutional change. Few resources and economic recovery. The work includes a focus are available for the hard work of community-level on transitional justice mechanisms such as Burundi’s reintegration and reconciliation. Yet history shows that truth and reconciliation process. AFSC has facilitated it is often the revival of local-level grievances that can study tours and exchanges that have exposed decision destroy a fragile peace. makers and grassroots organizers to the lessons learned from similar processes in other countries. Through convenings such as these and support for dialogues to address national concerns critical to peace, AFSC connects its partners and civil society to policymakers, all the while ensuring that community Shared security voices are heard. Community members often consider policymakers is a state in as difficult-to-reach segments of the population. AFSC uses dialogue and exchange opportunities to create enabling environments where information can be which people, shared from the top-down and the bottom-up. As community members and policymakers listen to one communities, another, they start to build trust as everyone’s concerns and opinions are heard and valued. Moreover, AFSC’s approach helps communities and countries and key decision makers reinforce one another’s efforts in important moments. derive their sense This program brief highlights AFSC’s work toward a path to peace in Burundi that may prove useful to others working in regions recovering from violent of security from conflict. Among the lessons learned from AFSC’s experience in Burundi are the need to: mutual well-being, 1. Engage communities in post-conflict processes of reconciliation, healing, and rebuilding social just policies, cohesion and livelihoods. 2. Link local efforts to broader national transitional and a shared processes. 3. Move from short-terms efforts such as preventing commitment to election violence to the long-term goal of building sustainable peace. resolving problems peacefully. SHARED SECURITY CASE STUDY: BURUNDI 5 II. Background: Burundi III. Strategies in the aftermath of war Burundi is a small, densely populated country in the heart of central Africa. Its population of around 10 million includes diverse ethnic and religious groups, and many people live on just a few dollars a day. Since its independence from Belgian colonial rule in 1962, Burundi has experienced repeated cycles of violent conflict and war, including mass killings of civilians along ethnic lines (Hutu and Tutsi) in 1972 and 1993. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of Burundians have been displaced by violence, fleeing to neighboring countries like Rwanda, Tanzania, and Democratic Republic of Congo. Regional conflicts further contribute to Burundi’s ongoing instability. Landscape in the south of Burundi. In the mid-1990s an African-led mediation, facilitated by former South African President Nelson Mandela, led to the signing of the Arusha Peace the wounds suffered by communities over decades of Accords in 2000 and the creation of a peace process violence or provide a means for rebuilding the social that was fragile from the start. However, the process and economic fabric of a society in ruins. Proposals created a vital window of hope and opportunity for to establish a formal truth and reconciliation process positive change in the country and region. were brought forward beginning in 2004 but remained While the peace agreement largely silenced the stalled for years before getting back on track in guns, established a political power-sharing framework, December 2014. and set the country on a path out of war, it did not heal