OCHA Situation Report
Burundi
9 - 15 July 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

ACTIVITIES AND UPDATES

Update on repatriation

Last week, UNHCR reported the return of 840 Burundian refugees who
arrived from Tanzania through the entry points of Kobero / Muyinga
province (182), Gisuru /Ruyigi province (248) and Mabanda / Makamba
province (410). This is the first repatriation which has taken place
since new measures to promote the return of Burundians from northwestern
camps in Tanzania were announced. Nonetheless, statistics of previous
years reveal that the present increase in the number of returnees is
normal during this time of the year. Since the beginning of the UNHCR
facilitated repatriation process in April 2002, the number of returnees
normally starts increasing from May and peaks in August due to the end
of the school year and harvests. The impact of the cash grant programme
will be better evaluated through returnee caseloads starting from late
September.

During the period under review, 462 DRC refugees were transferred from
Bujumbura to Musasa transit center (Ngozi province). To date, the total
number of DRC refugees transferred to Gasorwe refugee camp and Musasa
transit center in 2007 is 4,287.

Update on Burundians expelled from Tanzania

Expelled persons continue to arrive from Tanzania. During the reporting
week, the Government project for the reintegration of war-affected
persons (PARESI) registered 414 persons (205 families) expelled from
Tanzania: 356 at the entry point of Kobero (Muyinga) and 58 in Mishiha
(Cankuzo). Since January 2007, PARESI has recorded 4,461 expelled
persons (2,349 families). The increase in arrivals is suspected to be
linked with improper screening by boarder police.

Protection, Sexual gender-based violence (SGBV)

CARE International through its program Gezaho - stop - sexual and gender
based violence trained nine nurses from the provinces of Muyinga,
Bujumbura Rural and Bubanza in the management of anti-retroviral drugs.
Through its national partner Synergie Burundaise contre les violences
Sexuelles, twenty others were trained in providing psycho-social support
to victims of violence in the communes of Mugongomanga and
Bugarama/Bujumbura Rural province. CARE's partner association for the
protection and promotion of human rights (APRODH) organized a training
session for local authorities and judiciary officers in the commune of
Mpanda/Bubanza province.

This training activity covered the legal framework that constitutes the
protection of victims of sexual and gender based violence. In the
province of Muyinga coordination committees met under the leadership of
the General prosecutor. The Ministry of National Solidarity, Human
Rights and Gender has taken the lead in coordinating activities focusing
on sexual and gender-based violence. The first coordination meeting
which was attended by various Ministries, UN agencies, international and
national NGOs was held on 6 July.

Other technical and coordination meetings are currently being scheduled
by the above mentioned Ministry and CARE.

Update on food aid distribution

In collaboration with the following partner organizations: Action Contre
la Faim (ACF), Gruppo Voluntariato Civile (GVC), CARE International,
International Medical Corps (IMC), and World Vision International (WVI),
WFP distributed 427 MT to 23,604 beneficiaries. With the objective of
providing assistance for a more sustainable food security, WFP has
recently introduced a new technique for land management through
terracing in Muyange/,Kayanza province. This activity is being carried
out within the food for work programme. Under the same programme,
another project submitted by the Agency for Cooperation and Research in
Development (ACORD) which aims at rehabilitating the marshland area of
Gisurura/ Cendajuru commune in Cankuzo province is under consideration.

Agriculture / Food Security

Over the reporting period, the FAO/Emergency Rehabilitation and
Coordination Unit (FAO/ERCU) continued identifying field partners, sites
for the multiplication of seeds and beneficiary communitybased
associations, within the framework of its project for the restoration of
sustainable food security (PARSAD). This activity was carried out in the
provinces of Muyinga and Cankuzo. Targeted beneficiaries are
community-based associations in 13 sites in the provinces of Muyinga (8)
and Cankuzo (5) where members undertake seed multiplication activities
in identified sites and marshland. Supervision of these associations is
ensured by agronomists from the provincial department of agriculture
(DPAE), national and international NGOs operating in the two provinces
namely; Association pour la promotion des cooperatives de production, de
vente et d'approvisionnement (APROCOBU), association pour le soutien des
maladies orphelins du Sida de Muyinga (ASMOSIM), Association pour le
developpement integral des communautes (ADIC), ACORD, Caritas Belgium
and World Vision International. Priority crops have been identified.
This PARSAD project which is being financed by the European Commission
was first launched in late June 2007 in the provinces of Ruyigi and
Rutana.

UNICEF support to training in child rights protection

Supported by UNICEF through its Protection programme, the Observatory
for child rights in Burundi (OIDEB) organized a three day training
session for street children in Bujumbura. This training session is one
of the major activities of actors involved in the protection of child
rights (PIERS).

Support to the education system

On 12 July, UNICEF handed over 72 classrooms to the Ministry of
Education which were constructed as part of ongoing efforts to meet
increasing needs generated by the 2005 Presidential decree on free
primary education. The new classrooms were constructed in 12 primary
schools in the communes of Gashikanwa, Kiremba, Marangara, Mwumba,
Ngozi, Nyamurenza and Tangara in the province of Ngozi.

Multisector, more houses for the vulnerable

During the provincial coordination meeting held in Makamba on 11 July,
partners involved in the shelter sector announced that about 7,000
houses will be constructed in 2007. Some houses have already been
completed while others are still under construction. However, compared
to the needs which will arise following the massive repatriation of
Burundians from Tanzania by December 2007, more houses will need to be
built. Actors operating in this sector include: the Norwegian Refugee
Council (NRC), World Relief, Adventist Development and Relief Agency
(ADRA), Protestant Church, Norwegian Church Aid, CEFOGE and GTZ. OCHA
also advised these actors to provide additional support to promote
repatriation.

Contact Group meeting

During this month's Contact Group meeting which was chaired by the OCHA
Head of Office, the FAO/Emergency rehabilitation and coordination unit
presented the Integrated Food Security and Humanitarian Phase
Classification (IPC). This mechanism is coordinated by FAO/ERCU in
collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the
Ministry of Public health, WFP, UNICEF, OCHA and Action Contre la Faim
(ACF) as a member of the executive committee for the network of
international NGOs (RESO).

Latest developments

>From 16-17 July, OCHA carried out a follow up mission to Muyinga
further to a meeting (26 June) between the Governor of Muyinga and
partners involved in providing assistance to expelled persons. The main
aim of the mission was to ensure that recommendations of the meeting
were being adhered to; particularly the registration of expelled persons
from Tanzania by the Ministry of Interior through the PAFE (Police de
l'Air, des Frontieres et des Etrangers). Screening of new arrivals at
the border which was previously done by PARESI was handed over to the
PAFE. As such, it is expected that the number of fraudulent cases which
were undetected will reduce. On July 18th, the Government of the Arabic
Republic of Egypt through its embassy in Bujumbura donated food aid
comprised of 125 MT of rice, 100 MT of maize flower and 7MT of vegetable
oil. This food assistance which is destined for vulnerable groups of
society was welcomed by the President of Burundi, who announced that it
will target the most vulnerable persons; thereby complementing WFP's
assistance to the nation.

For more information: E-mail: ocha-burundi@un.org, Tel: +257 22 205000
Ext. 5542

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