OCHA Situation Report
Burundi
9 - 15 June 2003


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

HUMANITARIAN ACTIVITIES
1. UNICEF: Prevention campaigns against landmines

UNICEF continues to support the Department of Civil Protection within the
Ministry of Interior to implement prevention campaigns in areas most
affected by mines and non-exploded grenades and rockets.  A two-week long
training organised by the Department of Civil Protection and financed by
UNICEF concluded on 12th June.  This training targeted representatives
from the government, the police, NGOs, Burundian Red Cross, UN agencies
and media, who will create a group of resource persons for the mine risk
education project. In order to decentralise the project and to reach the
communities in the five (5) most affected provinces (Bujumbura Rural,
Makamba, Rutana, Ruyigi and Bubanza) the responsible provincial
co-ordinators also participated.  In 2002, Burundi counted 114 mines and
non-exploded grenades and rocket - victims, among whom 18 were children.
Children are particularly vulnerable as their curiosity often makes them
the first to pick up these objects.

2. Human rights NGO decries rights violations

According to a new report issued by human rights NGO, Ligue des Droits de
la Personne de la Région des Grands Lacs [LDGL], human rights continue
unabated in Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  
In Burundi, the report said, war had led to a standstill in government
programmes, denying the local populations access to public services.
"Rape, murder, robbery and economic crimes, lack of freedom of expression
have become a daily menu in the war zones of the region," the report said.

3. Nutritional assistance

During the month of May, UNICEF supplied 32 tons of therapeutic milk to
Burundi's 25 Therapeutic Feeding Centres (TFC) and continued its technical
and co-ordination activities targeting over 200 Supplementary Feeding
Centres (SFC).  UNICEF and its partners noted an improvement in the
nutritional status and admissions to Therapeutic Feeding Centres decreased
from 3,286 in January to 1,955 in April 2003.  Despite this improvement,
the nutritional status of the population remains fragile and admissions to
both Therapeutic and Supplementary Feeding Centres (11,283 admissions to
SFC in April 2003) are higher than during the same period last year.  The
population in areas with high insecurity and frequent looting such as
Ruyigi, Gitega, Muramwya, Bujumbura Rural, Kayanza and Bubanza are of
particular concern as accessibility to feeding structures is severely
disturbed.

4. Addressing sexual violence

The first coordination meeting on initiatives to assist victims of sexual
violence was conducted 2 June.  UN agencies, international/national NGOs
and donors working in Bujumbura, Ruyigi and Ngozi participated,
medical/judicial assistance was discussed.

5. Returnees as at 6 June 2003

UNHCR: Report 11,300 facilitated, 15,400 spontaneous returnees.  Total:
26,700 Y.T.D.

SECURITY

6. CNDD-FDD rebels launch "large scale attack" in Burundi's central
province of Mwaro

Peter Nkurunziza's CNDD-FDD [National Council for Defence of
Democracy-Forces for Defence of Democracy, pro-Hutu], launched an attack
[12 June] on the headquarters of Rusaka Commune [central Burundi], killing
three people and burning down the offices of the commune and those of
COPEC [local cooperative].  According to Mwaro Governor, Mr Prosper
Bazombanza, the FDD rebels attacked Rusaka, coming from the communes of
Muramvya and Kiganda (Muramvya Province).

7. General

- Twenty people reportedly killed in the north last week (Muruta commune,
Kayanza Province) during the fighting between the Army and CNDD-FDD
rebels.

- Ambush on a transport vehicle [8 June] in Rumonge District (Bururi
Province).  Passengers' goods were stolen; one passer-by (a cyclist) was
wounded.

- Bujumbura Rural Province: Palipehutu-FNL (Agathon Rwasa) accused of
persecuting inhabitants from Kanyosha and Isale communes.

- Cankuzo Province: Twelve shells were launched on the provincial town [12
June].  One woman wounded and two houses damaged.

POLITICAL

8. AU cantonment site

Burundi rebels loyal to Alain Mugabarabona's faction of the National
Liberation Forces (FNL) said on Tuesday [10 June] that conditions at the
troop cantonment site 30 km northwest of the capital, Bujumbura, were
inadequate.  "Our commanders visited the place last weekend [7-8 June] and
noted that sanitation and material conditions were not yet ready: There is
no food, no barracks for combatants," Leandre Sikuyavuga, the
Secretary-General of the FNL faction, told IRIN.  The AU representative in
Burundi, Ambassador Mamadou Bah, rejected FNL's allegations.

9. Latest Events

- Talking to IRIN [10 June] in Dar-Es-Salaam, CNDD-FDD rebel leader Pierre
Nkurunziza said the country (Burundi) needs a "new charter of transition"
for peace to be restored in the country and to allow it to prepare
"suitably" for elections.

- PARENA Party has stated it does not believe elections can take place at
the end of the second transitional phase due to the crowded agenda
(interview with Mr Zénon Nimubona, PARENA Spokesperson).  Mr Joseph
Kalumba of FROLINA reportedly echoed this view.

- Arrival on 12 June into Bujumbura (from DRC) of the Security Council
mission.  "We have come to support the peace process," stated Ambassador
Jean-Marc de la Sablière.

- A Government delegation to Dar-Es-Salaam met with CNDD-FDD (Pierre
Nkurunziza) [12-14 June].  A government source advised that a technical
agreement on forces will be discussed.

- Over a hundred combatants (Jean Bosco Ndayikengurukiye) are reportedly
present in Muruta Commune (Kayanza Province) waiting to be taken to the
cantonment site in Muyange (Bubanza).

COORDINATION

10. CAP/CHAP 2004

A two-day workshop on Common Humanitarian Action Plan [11-12 June], and
CAP 2004, has been conducted jointly by facilitators from OCHA (New York,
Kenya) and WHO (Geneva).  Participants included UN, donors, international
and national organisations.

11. GTS

Provincial representatives (Bujumbura Rural Province) held their first
meeting.

For Information

Nicholas McGowan
Head of Information
OCHA Burundi
PH: (257) 951 681
Email: mcgowann@un.org


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