OCHA Situation Report
Burundi
1 - 7 November 2004


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

HUMANITARIAN ACTIVITIES

1 UN assistance to Burundi's health system

In the framework of a joint health initiative among UN agencies, a
ceremony was held at the Ministry of Public Health on 5 November in the
capital, Bujumbura, during which vital equipment was provided to the
ministry. The project, "Voluntary Repatriation of Refugees and
Reintegration of Affected Populations to Burundi: Health Interventions and
Health System Reinforcement", is based on a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) among the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Since the signature of the MoU on 22 July 2004, activities have been
implemented in ten of Burundi's 17 provinces, namely Bururi, Cankuzo,
Gitega, Karuzi, Kirundo, Ngozi, Makamba, Muyinga, Ruyigi and Rutana.

Specifically, WHO provided a total of five vehicles, four of which would
be used in the provinces of Muyinga, Kirundo, Bururi and Bujumbura Rural
to reinforce the health system, and a fifth which would be used to improve
access and increase home-based care of people living with HIV/AIDS. The
total value of this contribution, US $132,000, was provided by the UK's
Department for International Development (DFID). For its part, UNICEF
provided essential medicine kits for 10 hospitals and 100 health centers,
with a total value of more than $1 million, provided by DFID and the
European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO).

Under the MoU, UNHCR is responsible for the protection and management of
health interventions targeting returnees from their departure in Tanzania
until they reach their final destination in their communities of origin in
Burundi. UNHCR is also contributing to the rehabilitation and renovation
of health infrastructure in regions most affected by repatriation. UNICEF
provides vaccines and critical inputs for immunization; essential drugs;
health kits; nutritional products and micronutrient supplements;
equipment; and logistical support. UNICEF is also responsible for training
and supervision to develop the competence and capacity of provincial
health teams in collaboration with WHO -- which ensures, in collaboration
with the Ministry of Public Health, coordination, supervision, technical
assistance, training and evaluation of health activities.

Follow-up mechanisms for the project are ensured by the Ministry of Public
Health; the Ministry of Repatriation, Reinsertion and Reintegration; and
the National Commission for Reinsertion (CNRS). NGOs are involved in both
the planning and implementation of the project.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) will join activities in 2005. The project
will run for at least three years in order to facilitate the process from
emergency situation to transition to development, and the three agencies
are also submitting coordinated funding proposals.

2 WFP Update

During the reporting week, the UN World Food Programme supplied a total
985 MT of food to more than 145,000 persons through its various programs.
The assistance comprised 312 MT distributed to more than 55,000 persons in
Bugabira Commune of Kirundo Province, where beneficiaries included many
recent returnees from Rwanda.


WFP weekly distribution update: Week 45/04

|-----------------------------+--------------+---------|
| Programs                    |Beneficiaries | Food MT |
|-----------------------------+--------------+---------|
|       Relief Assistance     |              |         |
|-----------------------------+--------------+---------|
| Targeted, emergency &       |      134,080 |     823 |
| family rations              |              |         |
|-----------------------------+--------------+---------|
| Supplementary & Therapeutic |          841 |       6 |
| feeding centers             |              |         |
|-----------------------------+--------------+---------|
| Returnees from Tanzania     |          457 |      24 |
|-----------------------------+--------------+---------|
|       Recovery Assistance   |              |         |
|-----------------------------+--------------+---------|
| FFW/FFT*                    |       10,050 |     132 |
|-----------------------------+--------------+---------|
| Total                       |      145,428 |     985 |
|-----------------------------+--------------+---------|

* Food-for-Work/Food-for-Training


3 Refugees update

As of 7 November, UNHCR reported that 86,314 Burundian refugees (including
80,382 facilitated and 5,932 spontaneous returnees) had returned, with the
month of October having seen a large drop off in the numbers of returnees,
as fewer than 1,400 people came home. The UN refugee agency noted that
fear of pre-election violence may have been a factor in the decline in
returnees, as well as seasonal factors such as planting time, the start of
the school year and the arrival of the rainy season. Furthermore, on 15
October, Burundian authorities announced that national elections, due to
have been held by 31 October, would be delayed by six months.

SECURITY INCIDENTS

The CNDD/FDD rejected accusations by residents of Nyabugiga, in Kanyosha
zone (Bujumbura town), who said that men belonging to the movement
pillaged their homes on the night of 2 November, Isanganiro radio
reported. On 3 November, more than a dozen of those pillaged were in front
of the Ministry of Good Governance, headed by CNDD/FDD leader Pierre
Nkurunziza, to express their anger.

On 3 November, a man cultivating his fields in Mutambu Commune of
Bujumbura Rural Province was seriously injured when he stepped on a
landmine.

On 4 November along the Bujumbura-Gatumba road, a bus was ambushed by
armed men, who robbed passengers of all their belongings.

During the night of 6-7 November, armed men attacked houses in Kinyinya,
Gatumba zone of Mutimbuzi Commune (Bujumbura Rural). Two people were
killed, two wounded, and a wide range of household goods and small
livestock were looted.

LATEST EVENTS AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

As of 1 November, Burundi is governed by a temporary constitution that had
been approved by the President of the Republic after its adoption by
Parliament. Political parties that had remained sceptical (UPRONA, RADDES,
PACONA, PSD, ANADDE and PRP) have accepted the new Constitution, avoiding
an institutional gap and preserving their positions in transitional
government institutions. Burundi's three-year transitional period
officially ended on 1 November, but a six-month interim period has been
agreed to allow more time to prepare for general elections, due in April
2005.

The UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB) announced on 2 November that it had
opened two new regional offices, bringing to three the total number now
operational in the country. In a statement, ONUB said some 40 of its staff
members had been deployed to the two new offices, one in the southern
province of Makamba, the other in the northeastern province of Muyinga.
ONUB's first regional office, in the central province of Gitega, was
opened in June.

The Burundian Minister of Agriculture and his Kenyan counterpart, on
mission to Burundi, signed a memorandum of understanding on 2 November
regarding cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the
sectors of agriculture, livestock, fisheries, and agro-business joint
ventures.

On 3 November, ONUB announced that it had started broadcasting radio
programs on its work in support of the country's peace process, UN News
reported. The weekly hour-long radio show, which is half in French and
half in the national language, Kirundi, is broadcast over five
already-existing radio stations covering 90% of the country, ONUB
spokesperson Isabelle Abric said. The broadcasts would serve to bolster
the peace process by explaining ONUB's work in such areas as judicial
reform, human rights, and security. With a referendum on Burundi's
constitution planned for late November, the broadcasts would cover the
process and support efforts to get people to register to vote, Abric said,
adding that plans were underway to produce new broadcasts daily in both
French and Kirundi.

Also on 3 November, during a meeting convened by President Domitien
Ndayizeye with provincial governors, communal administrators, military and
judicial authorities, Ndayizeye addressed four major security concerns
plaguing the nation, namely sexual violence against women, proliferation
of small arms, armed robbery, and the continued recruitment of armed
combatants, Bonesha radio reported. Decrying the high rate of crime -- he
noted that in the prior three months alone, some 300 people had been
assassinated -- the President called for far stricter security measures to
be implemented.

On 4 November, President Ndayizeye and Vice President Alphonse-Marie
Kadege issued a decree naming members of the independent electoral
commissions for each of Burundi's 17 provinces.

Also on 4 November, the transitional Senate adopted the draft law
regarding the mission, composition, organization and functions of the
National Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which had earlier been
adopted by the National Assembly on 31 August.

20 ex-rebels were integrated into the army and police command structure.
However, national radio RTNB reported that certain former armed rebel
movements continued to recruit and train new elements. In response,
President Ndayizeye vowed to accelerate demobilization and integration of
ex-combatants.

Three weeks from the national referendum on Burundi's transitional
Constitution, due to be held on 26 November, and the country was lacking
necessary funds to hold the referendum, merely a promise of US $19.5
million of the $21 million needed, Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) reported
on 5 November. However, according to Ambassador Nureldin Satti of ONUB
during a 4 November press conference, contacts between donors and the
Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) were good.

At the same press conference, Satti also noted that provision of food and
other necessities to combatants fighting alongside the national army was
the responsibility of the Government of Burundi, RPA reported. However, he
said it appeared this obligation was not being fulfilled, and that the
soldiers had found themselves in a "precarious and marginalized
situation".

COORDINATION

>From 3-4 November, a joint mission was conducted by provincial education
authorities, UNICEF and OCHA to assess the most urgent needs of primary
schools in Butaganzwa, Gisuru and Ruyigi (Ruyigi Province), following a
massive return of school-aged children to the region. Agreement was
reached between UNICEF and provincial education authorities whereby UNICEF
would provide materials for the construction of more than 50 auxiliary
classrooms, the rehabilitation of damaged classrooms, desks and various
school supplies. For its part, provincial education authorities agreed to
provide the necessary labor for construction and rehabilitation efforts,
as well as to recruit teachers to ease the congestion of overcrowded
classrooms.

Also in Ruyigi Province, the National Commission for the Rehabilitation of
war-affected populations (CNRS) began construction of 200 houses on the
Kabuyenge site for IDPs and returned refugees. OCHA provided 100 plastic
sheets to protect bricks being produced locally by beneficiaries, while a
request was submitted to WFP for a Food-for-Work program to be
implemented.

For further information and contributions to future updates: Matthew
Conway and Adelaide Habonimana OCHA Information Unit E-mail:
conwaym@un.org and habonimanaa@un.org

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