Burundi

Peacebuilding Fund in Action?

The PBF portfolio has carved out a niche for sustainable peacebuilding in Burundi and closer cooperation with national partners in the framework of the government-led Programme de la Capitalisation de la Paix (2022-2027). The PBF is pioneering a long-term approach to peacebuilding that is based on three elements: more context relevance, stronger participation of civil society, and response to local needs. The PBF portfolio engages national stakeholders in a gradual way to build broader consensus on the response to peacebuilding issues and to create more partnerships opportunities with civil society. Pressing issues concerning the portfolio action in 2024 include social cohesion, reintegration of returnees, resolution of resource conflicts, environmental protection, women and youth empowerment, trauma healing, mental health, dealing with a violent past, and inclusive participation in political processes. Among these, the PBF recipient organizations have already made leading contributions in trauma healing, environmental protection, community-based social cohesion, and conflict mitigation. Through partnerships with women-focused organisations, the PBF portfolio is also delivering transformative action on gender sensitivity in Burundi. The Fund also supports the resilience of communities by blending peacebuilding objectives with socio-economic activities in all PBF projects. The ongoing integration of the socio-economic dimension into peacebuilding represents a significant milestone in Burundi where social precarity is widespread and vulnerable groups are so many.

Peacebuilding Fund Impact?

PBF support has amplified the voices of vulnerable groups in Burundi, advancing their self-expression, participation in society, and both their individual and collective responsibilities. PBF projects have brought relief, inspiration, and new hope to marginalized people, including women, the Batwa minority, returnees, youth, and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The cooperation with Burundian authorities has been strengthening with increased involvement of the Office of the Burundian President, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Solidarity and Gender, and the Ministry of Youth. The PBF Steering Committee has delivered strategic project coordination and field monitoring visits. The coherence of the PBF action also increased as PBF recipient organisations have been given more opportunities to exploit synergies and develop learning partnerships through an in-country community of practice. In 2023, the PBF portfolio delivered its first joint project activity, an SGBV victims rehabilitation workshop in Rumonge. The activity was part of both a UNDP-Cord mental health initiative and a UN-Women localisation initiative of UNSCR 1325 with the women mediators network. This gender-based activity also had a catalytic effect on the opening of the local government centre Humura to protect women rights. Over the past two years, the PBF portfolio made significant contributions to identifying innovative solutions for the country pressing challenges. And it is in the environmental peacebuilding realm that the Portfolio made its greatest achievement thus far. The UNCDF Kibira Peace Park project raised the ecological awareness to new levels in Burundi. The PBF project launched the Kibira Foundation, a new entity with public-private partnerships responsible for protecting the Kibira forest and reversing the negative impact of human activity. The project has helped authorities set new standards of environment protection and ecofriendly local development in Burundi. In addition to this, the project succeeded in promoting social cohesion in local communities. Its activities included safeguarding the rights of Batwa minority and reducing tensions over access to forest resources with an alternative livelihood programme.