Burundi

Some annual results (2018)

8000school children received sexual and reproductive education
12,800 school children received help and services on sexual and reproductive health in 48 “friends of youth” health centres
1,110teachers and young peer educators trained on sexual education to be provided in schools

Global Peace Index

134/ 163

GPI Rank

Political Instability

Safety & Security

Ongoing Conflict

Source: Global Peace Index (2018)

Country Office

Bujumbura, Burundi

Roheri I, 9 avenue du Marché
P.O. Box 6701
Bujumbura, Burundi

Phone: + 257 22 21 01 99
Email: [email protected]

Country director

Zarir Hugues Merat

[email protected]

Cordaid in Burundi

Cordaid has been working in Burundi since the mid 90’s. We chiefly work in the areas of health care, resilience and security & justice. More specifically, we focus on sexual & reproductive health, maternal & infantile health, results based financing in the health sector, addressing and countering gender based violence, reinforcement of women and youth leadership, strengthening of civil society organizations and lobbying & advocacy.

Where does Cordaid work?

In Burundi Cordaid works at local, regional and national levels.

In the Mutaho Health District (Gitega province) we improve maternal and infantile health care. In Cibitoke, Makamba and Muyinga provinces we help preventing and raising awareness of sexual and gender-based violence. With our project ‘Niche’, we reinforce the capacities of three universities in Burundi (Burundi, Ngozi and Hope), where we develop training curricula for medical students, specifically for gender issues and sexual and reproductive health. We improve sexual and reproductive health of youth and teenagers in the following provinces: Bururi, Cankuzo, Karusi, Makamba, Muramvya, Mwaro, Rumonge and Rutana.

Finally, our nationwide Strategic Partnership program in Burundi aims to build strong civil society organizations, capable to advocate as a solid, durable network, and to engage in awareness raising and policy influencing.

11,2 Million

Population

Rural population

Urban population

-0.6% annual

GDP growth

24.2 per 1,000

Mortality rate, neonatal

Source: worldbank.org

Current situation

The political crisis of 2015 in Burundi, caused by the fact that the President of the Republic decided to run for a third unconstitutional mandate, is still not over. The ensuing political blockade pushed Western donors to establish strong sanctions, which increased the fragility of the economy, the lack of foreign exchange and the price of imported products. This situation further impoverishes an already poor population, in one of the most deprived countries of the world.

Cordaid in Burundi

In Burundi, Cordaid is active in the fields of health care and security & justice.

Health care

In the health care sector, we are one of the leading organizations having introduced Results-Based Financing (RBF), a methodology that was soon adopted by the government in its national health policy. We are particularly focusing on the improvement of sexual and reproductive health care services and the struggle against sexual and gender-based violence.

Still, the fertility rate for each woman is close to 6 children. Therefore, we keep being strongly active in SRHR.

Next to that, Cordaid addresses the following challenges: maternal and infantile mortality (which is among the highest in Africa); chronic diseases through support to medical schools; cervical cancer through innovative treatment and prevention; sexual and gender-based violence through awareness raising and sensitization.

Some of our recent health care projects:

Joint Program on Sexual and Reproductive Health. The project is run in consortium with Care, UNFPA, Rutgers and Cordaid.
- Read more in the Health Burundi Conjoint SDSR Brochure (French)
The awareness project on the prevention of SGBV in the three provinces of Cibitoke, Makamba and Muyinga, financed by the World Bank for 12 months (March 2017 to February 2018) which was first extended by 3 months (March to June 2018) and then extended by 12 months (2019);
The 11-month pilotproject (June 2017 to April 2018) to improve maternal and child health (obstetric and neonatal care) in the Mutaho health district, Gitega province, funded by Unicef;
A project to improve sexual and reproductive health through results-based financing (RBF) in the provinces of Gitega and Muramvya, funded by the German Cooperation (via KfW Bank) from December 2018 to November 2019. Negotiations are underway for the extension of this project to cover the provinces of Gitega, Muramvya and Mwaro from 2020 to 2022.
- Read more in the Health Burundi KFW Brochure (French)
A project to support the implementation of activities for the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and the prevention of SGBV adapted to young people and adolescents in the three provinces of Cibitoke, Makamba and Muyinga, financed by the World Bank in 12 months (2019);
The pilot project for the prevention, detection and treatment of precancerous cervical lesions in Bururi and Rumonge provinces funded by Fons Propres (MEMISA funds) from 01 July 2017 to 31 December 2019;
- Read more in the Health Burundi Cervical Cancer Brochure (French)
The TWITEHO AMAGARA Health Resilience Support Project, which aims to (1) strengthen quality health services, (2) improve sexual and reproductive health, and (3) response to health and humanitarian emergencies in the provinces of Bururi, Gitega and Makamba which started in June 2019 for a period of 36 months, funded by the European Union.

Security & Justice

One of the main challenges of our security and justice program, considering the actual complex environment, is to make sure civil society has enough space to be alive and active and operate freely. Therefore, we strengthen capacities of civil society organizations that focus on issues of women and gender, access to justice, and youth related topics.

In Burundi, we have the following projects and programs:

The Strategic Partnership program
The Strategic Partnership program strengthens the lobbying, advocacy and communication capacities of local and national NGOs and associations, and gives them the tools and skills to achieve their goals and mandates.
Joint Program on Sexual and Reproductive Health
The program on sexual and reproductive health aims at delivering complete information and education on these topics to children and youth aged 10 to 24, whether at school or out-of-school.
Sexual and gender-based violence project
This project increases awareness, and helps to prevent sexual and gender-based violence. It also provides care to victims at community level.
Maternal and infantile health project
The maternal and infantile health project improves the supply of obstetric and neonatal care in hospitals and health centres, by reinforcing the capacities of health providers.
Niche project
The Niche project strengthens training capacities in medical schools to address basic health needs of the Burundian population.

Resilience

Financed by Cordaid, the project aims to strengthen communities to become more resilient to disasters, prepared to deal with climate change, environmental degradation and the reduction of conflict risks. This project will help the population prepare for natural and man-made disasters and mitigate their impacts. To achieve this goal, it will use a Community Disaster Risk Reduction approach. In addition, four specific objectives are associated with the main objective:

Communities are able to identify their risks and formulate joint action plans to improve resilience at the local level;
A multisectoral platform set up and serves as an advocacy forum to help the community implement resilience plans and promote CBRM at the national level;
Communities will implement resilience projects small scale;
A potential conflict risk analysis tool will be developed and used.

Partners and donors

Joint Program on Sexual and Reproductive Health
The Joint Program on Sexual and Reproductive Health for youth and teenagers is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, through its embassy in Burundi. We work in a consortium in collaboration with Care International, Rutgers and UNFPA.

Sexual and gender based violence project
Our project against sexual and gender based violence is funded by the World Bank, through the Ministry of Health of Burundi.

Maternal and infantile health project
The project on maternal and infantile health receives funds from UNICEF.

Niche project
For supporting Burundian medical education in universities as part of the Niche project, Cordaid is part of a consortium with CINOP and the Maastricht University. This consortium is funded by the government of the Netherlands (through Nuffic).

The Strategic Partnership program
The Strategic Partnership program on Lobbying and Advocacy is being implemented in collaboration with six Burundian associations: AFRABU, AFJO, ADISCO and REJA on women, youth, peace and employment issues; Bar Association and OAG for access to Justice. This ambitious project is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Capacity-building Program
Cordaid is a member of a consortium with CINOP and the University of Maastricht for a five-year (2017-2021) capacity-building program for three Universities of Burundi: University of Burundi (leading the Consortium in Burundi), University of Ngozi and Hope University. The development of a new curriculum for the training of Burundian doctors will take into account the needs of communities with a focus on gender and reproductive health.

(© Full width image by Patrick Nicholson/Caritas. Second image by Wilco van Dijen).