ORGANISATIONS PARTICIPATING IN CONSOLIDATED APPEALS DURING 2006:
AARREC
AASAA
ABS
Abt Associates
ACF/ACH/AAH
ACTED
ADRA
Africare
AGROSPHERE
AHA
ANERA
ARCI
ARM
AVSI
CADI
CAM
CARE
CARITAS
CCF
CCIJD
CEMIR Int’l
CENAP / CESVI
CHFI
CINS
CIRID
CISV
CL
CONCERN
COOPI
CORD
CPAR
CRS
CUAMM
CW
DCA
DRC
EMSF
ERM
EQUIP
FAO
GAA (DWH)
GH / GSLG
HDO
HI
HISAN - WEPA
Horn Relief
INTERSOS
IOM
IRC
IRD
IRIN
JVSF
MALAO
MCI
MDA
MDM
MENTOR
MERLIN
NA
NNA
NRC
OA / OCHA
OCPH
ODAG
OHCHR
PARACOM
PARC
PHG
PMRS
PRCS
PSI
PU
RFEP
SADO
SC-UK
SECADEV
SFCG
SNNC
SOCADIDO
Solidarités
SP
STF / UNAIDS
UNDP
UNDSS
UNESCO
UNFPA
UN-HABITAT
UNHCR
UNICEF
UNIFEM
UNMAS
UNODC
UNRWA
UPHB
VETAID
VIA
VT
WFP
WHO
WVI
WR
ZOARC
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.Executive Summary
2.Changes in the Context and Humanitarian Consequences
2.1Consolidation of the Peace
2.2Unexpected Humanitarian Developments
2.3Transition Towards Development
3.Review of the Common Humanitarian Action Plan (Chap)
3.1Common Humanitarian Action Plan
3.2Scenarios
3.3Strategic Priorities
3.4Sectoral Analysis and Projections
3.4.1.Food Security, Emergency Agriculture and Nutrition
3.4.2.Access to Basic Services (Education and Health)
3.4.3.Shelter, Non-Food Items and Water and Sanitation
3.4.4.Population Movements
3.4.5.Mine Action
3.4.6.Protection and Human Rights
3.4.7.Coordination Mechanisms and Information Management
4.Funding and Projects
New and Revised Projects Table
5.Conclusion
6.New and Revised Projects......
7.Requirements, Commitments, Contributions and Pledges Per Sector and Per Appealing Organisations
8.Acronyms and Abbreviations
1
BURUNDI
1.executive summary
In the midst of post-conflict recovery and an improving political and security landscape despite isolated attacks by the last remaining rebel group, the key challenge for humanitarian actors has been to ensure a gradual and effective transition from humanitarian response to establishing sustainable solutions to meet the basic needs of vulnerable persons. The launch of a governmental Emergency Program in February 2006 with a focus on provision of basic services, food security, and reintegration support, has been an important landmark in this effort. However, the need for continued humanitarian assistance is highlighted by weak national structures and delivery capacity; food insecurity triggered by consecutive poor harvests in 2005 and 2006; constant population movement in the region due to insecurity and food shortages; and seasonal floods.
Key achievements in the first six months of 2006 include the response to poor harvests and high levels of food insecurity through the distribution of 45,000 MT of food aid and the provision of seeds and tools to over 450,000 households. Agencies and NGOs also provided critical support to the local and national authorities in implementing key decisions on free health care for mothers and children and free primary education: As such, Essential Care Packages (ECP) were distributed to 210 health centres in ten provinces and temporary and permanent learning spaces were provided to help absorb a record 494,448 first grade pupils. Further, agencies responded to the influx of nearly 20,000 Rwandan asylum-seekers and the return of 13,000 rejected Burundian asylum-seekers, assuring their protection and assistance in line with international conventions.
The humanitarian community is also preparing for scenarios regarding population movements including the possible influx of Congolese refugees during the electoral process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the prospect of a massive return of Burundian refugees from the United Republic of Tanzania following the shift from facilitation to promotion of voluntary repatriation.
Crucially, the Mid-year Review was for the first time conducted jointly with the Government of Burundi, which meant a significant revision of existing humanitarian coordination mechanisms to match the changed institutional setting. It is of utmost importance for the humanitarian community to support the Government’s overall capacity for coordination, planning, resource mobilisation and response. Humanitarian response still represents an important component of the global peace consolidation process by stabilising populations and mitigating their exposure to humanitarian needs such as sudden food insecurity and epidemics.
The priorities for the remainder of 2006 are:
- Strengthen and support early warning and response mechanisms to populations at risk;
- Support Government policies in basic services provision with an emphasis on life saving activities;
- Support process of transition from relief to development with an emphasis on short-term programmes on reinsertion and community recovery in anticipation of Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) implementation;
- Continuous monitoring and promotion of human rights and strengthening of institutional accountability of the governmental security bodies.
The Mid-Year Review of the 2006 Consolidated Appeal has a revised requirement of
US$1123,012,389. A total of $30,729,677, which represents approximately 25% of the requested funds, has been committed to date, leaving unmet requirements of $92,282,712.
2.Changes in the context and humanitarian consequences
2.1Consolidation of the Peace
The first six months of 2006 have been marked by efforts by the authorities to produce quick impact in the areas of security, basic services provision and a general orientation towards development, notably through the Emergency and Rehabilitation Programme 2006. However, as delivery of the programme was hampered by a lack of human and financial resources and weak institutional capacities, most of its projects have not yet been initiated except for the support to primary education.
The Government called for the last remaining rebel group the Forces of National Liberation (FNL) to enter into talks in late 2005. Since then and into the first quarter of 2006, the Burundian Army (FDN) conducted a robust military strategy against the FNL particularly in Bujumbura Rural. The civilian population has been caught in the middle, with both government and rebel forces accusing them of supporting the other. This has resulted in an increase in human rights abuses ranging from arbitrary detention and various human rights violations by the FDN, the National Intelligence Service and National Police to lootings, taxes extortions and summary executions by FNL. The FDN strategy has resulted in a number of arrests of FNL and voluntary surrenders, and has reduced the capacity of the FNL forces, which retain a presence in the Kibira forest and rear bases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On 29 May, a government delegation and FNL leaders begun talks in Dar-es-Salaam, facilitated by the South African Government. Until an agreement is reached, the civilian population of Bujumbura-Rural, Bubanza and Cibitoke will continue to suffer from insecurity and remain a major humanitarian concern.
In 2005, the Government announced free primary education and, in May 2006, the provision of free health care to pregnant women and children under the age of 5 years. These decrees have clearly set a new standard for access to basic services, albeit with weak financial and institutional capacity for its implementation. In the education sector, although an additional 59,208 pupils were able to attend school, 168,597 could not be accommodated due to the lack of schools and teachers. As for the health sector, hospitals and health centres are in great difficulty meeting the costs as their monthly budget covers only half the month. Given the immense gaps in the provision of basic services in Burundi, it is crucial to support these initiatives to combat structural vulnerability, and decrease the need over time for humanitarian assistance.
The Government of Burundi, with significant support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has also developed a national response plan to avian influenza, which is expected to come into force in July 2006.
The United Nations Mission in Burundi (UNOB) was tasked by the Security Council to begin the gradual withdrawal of its military component over the course of the year. By April the military contingents and their equipment had been reduced by 40%. All human rights provincial field offices were reduced to a monitoring capacity and as of May UNOB only operates in Bujumbura-Mairie, Bujumbura-Rural, Bubanza and Cibitoke. Key activities remain demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration (DDR); security sector reform (SSR), which includes strengthening the newly integrated police force; transitional justice and human rights. As a result of the drawdown, UNOB is no longer able to provide the same level of support to humanitarian activities such as transport, military escorts or engineering support. In May 2006 the Secretary-General (SG) sent a high-level mission to discuss with the Government, the parameters of the proposed post-UNOB United Nations (UN) presence in Burundi. This is likely to be an Integrated Office continuing activities in the aforementioned areas, but has yet to be authorised by the Security Council.
2.2Unexpected Humanitarian Developments
The first six months of 2006 have seen a number of unexpected humanitarian developments. Firstly, the regional drought affected an already fragile situation in Burundi, where household vulnerability due to years of conflict is combined with extreme poverty. An evaluation of the 2006A harvest conducted by FAO, the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Ministry of Agriculture in January 2006 showed that the Northern part of Kirundo province, South-eastern part of Muyinga province, Cankuzo province and Moso region of Ruyigi province were the most drought-affected areas. Accordingly, a large scale response was initiated: WFP distributed about 45,000 metric tonnes (MTs) of food aid in the first six months while FAO and its partners provided agricultural assistance to over 450,000 households. Despite these actions, 68% of the Burundian population remains borderline food insecure making them highly susceptible to climatic shocks such as drought, torrential rains and crop diseases. 16% of the population remains chronically food insecure. The root causes of this chronic food insecurity include erratic macroclimatic conditions; crop diseases; the lack of agricultural inputs and functioning rural infrastructures; land shortage; and lack of farming, food processing and stocking skills. Standard coping strategies include change of diet (i.e. cutting meals), debt, displacement in order to find work, and separation of families as children are sent away to be temporarily taken care of by relatives or friends. It should be noted that, since FAO started its records in the 1993, the production during the 2006A season was at its lowest point (in terms of kcal per person). In comparison with the same season last year production dropped by 12%. Whilst households are increasingly dependent on purchase of food (45%-70% depending on the province), market prices are on the rise with the purchasing power of the population on the decrease.
Secondly, population movements posed a particular challenge to humanitarian actors. On the one hand repatriation of Burundian refugees fell well short of the projection with only 4,745 refugees returning between January and mid-June. On 20 and 21 March a decision was made by the Tripartite Commission for the Voluntary Repatriation of Burundian Refugees to shift from facilitation to promotion from 20 June2 On the other hand the influx of Rwandan asylum seekers peaked in the first two months of the year and stabilised by late March; with around 19,000 sheltered in the sites of Musasa, Songore and Rwisuri (Ngozi and Kirundo province). Various partners including the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), Africa Humanitarian Action (AHA), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Action Contre la Faim (ACF) as well as WFP and UNOB intervened in support of UNHCR to respond to the situation. Refugee Status Determination is still ongoing and the first small group of accepted refugees was transferred to a site in Rutana in April. In May and June significant voluntary returns to Rwanda were registered which enabled agencies to close one of the three sites (Rwisuri). Furthermore, around 13,000 Burundians left to Tanzania in November 2005 as a result of increasing food insecurity. Majority voluntarily returned to Burundi in early April following a decision by the Tripartite Commission to provide assistance. Agencies managed to provide some assistance to this population who returned largely to Ruyigi province. (See story below).
Beatrice – IDP andRefugee all at once?“My name is Beatrice Kamatame – I am 36 years old and a mother of 6 children. My youngest is a baby of 1 week. I am from Marembo in Kirundo but I had to flee to Gisuru in Ruyigi province because there was not enough food in Kirundo province.
I left my home on 3 April 2005. When I arrived in Kabuyenge (Ruyigi) in December 2005 the situation was so bad that I decided to leave for Tanzania with my children where we received assistance in a UNHCR transit site. When the Governments decided to return the “réfugiés de la famine” we were brought back to Kabuyenge on 2 April 2006. Our situation is very difficult since we don’t have shelter or food. We are now living off irregular assistance and odd jobs. I do not have the money to send my children to school. When one of us falls ill, I cannot even afford the subsidised costs of health care (i.e.10-20 $ cents). Where should I take this money from? One of my children suffers from malnutrition but I cannot do anything about it, since I have no money. Despite all the difficulties, I still prefer dying here in Ruyigi than returning to Kirundo. We do not own a house or a plot and if we could ever afford it we would buy it here. /
UNHCR built some houses nearby. I hope the government or international organisations can do the same for us.”
(Recorded by OCHA Ruyigi on 1 July 2006)
Finally, in late April and May 2006 a series of torrential rains and hail storms caused landslides, collapse of infrastructure and flooding in the marshlands, killing at least 46 people and rendering thousands vulnerable due to loss of either shelter, harvests or both.
2.3Transition Towards Development
The statistics on Burundi show extreme levels of poverty and the continuing decline of the socio-economic network and infrastructure. Notwithstanding the direct impact of ten years of conflict, there is an urgent need for Burundi to move away from the traditional pattern of rural subsistence agriculture practiced by the overwhelming majority of the population. Work on the PRSP, by the Government and its partners continued, and included a technical workshop in Bujumbura 21-31 May 2006 aimed at integrating conflict-related issues. The final PRSP is expected to be sent to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Boards, by September 2006. In line with the Rome and Paris Declaration, the UN Country Team has agreed to extend its programme cycle by one year (until December 2008) to align the existing UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) (2005-07) with the finalised PRSP, and in order to integrate the new elements of the follow-on mission into the revised UNDAF.
The Government launched an Emergency Programme on 28 February to respond to urgent food insecurity, challenges in basic services provision and reintegration of war-affected populations. There were also significant components on budget support and good governance. Approximately, 50% of the resources requested through the CAP correspond with about 50% of the Emergency Programme. The Government also set up the National Committee of Aid Coordination (NCAC) in December 2005, making its Secretariat the main interlocutor for coordination. These efforts are again hampered by a lack of resources. Other Government transition-to-development initiatives included the 14 March legislation, which brought into force the Ministry of National Solidarity, Human Rights and Gender, and the transfer of food donations within Burundi as part of the so-called “National Solidarity Initiative” in response to the drought.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) formalised the decentralisation of its programme to support the Rehabilitation/Reintegration of Affected Populations (Sinistrés) and Poverty Reduction (PRRSLP) with an emphasis on the Eastern and Southern provinces.
It is pertinent to note that despite the shifting emphasis from humanitarian to development activities in Burundi highlighted above, such changes should be gradual and coordinated. Any abrupt changes would not only expose large parts of the population to increased vulnerability, but would also critically affect the chance to consolidate an ongoing fragile peace process.
3.Review of the Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP)
Estimates by the lead agencies in the respective sectors shows that significant revisions were necessary within each sector despite little change in the overall needs. Due to the continued food insecurity and uncertainties ahead for peace and stability in Burundi, the number of returnees fell just over a third of the initial estimate of 150,000. Meanwhile, the volume of food aid (targeted distributions) from January to May has increased by 40% compared to the same period in 2005. Furthermore 455,000 households received seeds and agricultural assistance during the first five months, which represents 73% of annual projection. This reflects a stronger response in the first part of 2006 due to the very poor agricultural season 2006A and prolonged drought (see section 2.2 above). However food assistance is expected to decrease in the second half of 2006. Additionally, the needs in health have increased as the population tries to take advantage of the new laws, in utilising the available public health facilities. Gaps in the education sector – over 160,000 pupils do not have access to primary education – will be further exacerbated by the impact of the second year of surplus first-year enrolment. Economic rehabilitation and recovery needs remain stable with a shift from humanitarian to post-conflict actors taking the lead in the response. Finally, the response to protection issues will shift from the protection of civilians affected by armed conflict, towards human rights oriented capacity building and the establishment of rule of law.
3.1Common Humanitarian Action Plan
Assessments and case studies carried out during the year adhered to the SPHERE guidelines and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Needs Analysis Framework (NAF). Evaluation of trends in the humanitarian context, and definition of strategic priorities and sector responses included in this Plan are based on the findings of these assessments and studies.