Burundi

INTAMENWA! Les Indivisibles. Mobilisation of Burundian Youth for Political Reconciliation

As part of the multi-country Governance and Transparency Fund (GTF) program funded by UKAID, Search for Common Ground (SFCG) in Burundi implemented a three month project from June until September 2011 in support of its overall programmatic goal: to promote inclusive, effective and responsible participation in a process of social transformation toward a fair and equal society in Burundi.

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Key Findings from the Project Evaluation of "Supporting National Reconciliation in Burundi" 2006-2008

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) has been working in Burundi since 1995. In recent years, SFCG Burundi's primary objective has been to improve the participation of all citizens in the democratic process and in reconciliation focusing on three issues:

• Reintegration of marginalized groups: citizens returning to Burundi; ex-combatants; women; youth; and war victims
• Good governance through increased participation in local decision making
• Transitional justice, especially supporting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

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Résultats-clés de l’Evaluation du Projet « Appui à la réconciliation nationale au Burundi » 2006-2008

Quatre grandes catégories d’activités ont été menées: formation des populations locales (membres d’association, groupes marginalisés) sur les thèmes de la réconciliation et la justice transitionnelle ; des émissions radiophoniques sous forme de tables rondes sur les thèmes touchant au rôle de la Commission Nationale Terre et autres Biens (CNTB), à la justice transitionnelle, à l’élaboration de projets communautaires et à la résolution pacifique des conflits ; facilitation du règlement des conflits fonciers en 2 collaboration avec la CNTB ; interventions communautaires sous forme de journées de solidarité et jeux-concours.

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Key Findings from the Project Evaluation of "Promotion of Democratic Governance in Burundi" 2006-2008

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) has been working in Burundi since 1995. In recent years, SFCG Burundi's primary objective has been to improve the participation of all citizens in the democratic process and in reconciliation focusing on three issues:

• Reintegration of marginalized groups: citizens returning to Burundi; ex-combatants; women; youth; and war victims
• Good governance through increased participation in local decision making
• Transitional justice, especially supporting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Download the Report [English]

Résultats-clés de l’évaluation du projet « Promotion de la gouvernance démocratique au Burundi » en 2006-2008

Les résultats-clés, ci-dessous représentent les leçons apprises à travers l’évaluation du programme. Les résultats-clés des objectifs spécifiques de chacun des trois projets peuvent être trouvés dans 3 différents résumés disponibles.

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Key Findings from the “Promoting Freedom of Expression” Project Evaluation, 2006-2008

The project “Promoting of Freedom of Expression” has improved the capacity of members of various target groups to become key players in the dialogue for social change, peacebuilding and reconciliation in their communities. All activities planned under the project have been completed on time and have taken the identified target areas into account, especially the training provided for journalists.

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2009 ÉVALUATION D’IMPACT DU PROGRAMME DE SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND AU BURUNDI VIA LES PROJETS : PROMOTION DE LA LIBERTÉ D’EXPRESSION, APPUI À LA RÉCONCILIATION NATIONALE, PROMOTION DE LA GOUVERNANCE DÉMOCRATIQUE

Le programme SFCG Burundi en 2006-2008 a été composé de trois projets : 1) « Promotion de la liberté d’expression » ; 2) « Appui à la réconciliation nationale » et 3) « Promotion de la gouvernance démocratique ».

Le programme SFCG Burundi 2006-2008 a été composé de trois projets : 1) « Promotion de la liberté d’expression » ; 2) « Appui à la réconciliation nationale » et 3) « Promotion de la gouvernance démocratique ».   Le but global du programme a été de contribuer à la consolidation des acquis obtenus depuis les élections de 2005 dans les domaines de la liberté d’expression, de la réconciliation nationale et de la gouvernance démocratique.  Quelques objectifs des projets ont été de renforcer les capacités des médias ; de donner une voix aux groupes marginalisés ; d’informer le public et de créer des opportunités pour le dialogue sur les thèmes relatifs à la vérité, la justice et la réconciliation ; et d’encourager la participation des femmes et des jeunes à la gouvernance locale.  Dans le cadre de ces projets, 120 journalistes ont été formés, on a organisé des tables rondes et produit des émissions hebdomadaires sur la liberté d’expression. SFCG a aussi facilité la diffusion de programmes et d’émissions radio dans les marchés, ainsi qu’organisé des séances d’échange et de feedback dans les Clubs d’écoute, sur les émissions produites par le studio Ijambo et les autres radios.  De plus, SFCG a mis en place 15 Parlements Scolaires,  auxquels participent 322 députés juniors dont 45% de filles, a facilité la formation des députés juniors  et la production de t74 émissions sur les Parlements Scolaires. Selon l’évaluation, les projets ont eu des effets notables sur la compréhension par la population de la nécessité de dialoguer et de promouvoir la non-violence dans le règlement des conflits au sein des communautés. Le programme a ainsi permis d’améliorer les aptitudes et les capacités des populations et leur participation à la réconciliation nationale par le creuset des tables rondes et journées de solidarité.

Download D'impact du Programme SFCG Burundi [French]

2009 Accompagnement de la mise en place et du fonctionnement de la Commission Vérité et Réconciliation au Burundi’

For two years Search for Common Ground Burundi has been involved in the project Accompagnement de la mise en place et du fonctionnement de la Commission Vérité et Réconciliation ('Support to the establishment and operation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Burundi'), as part of the broader transitional justice process in Burundi.

The specific project objectives are to inform and educate the public on issues related to truth, justice and reconciliation, to create opportunities for all Burundians to participate in the dialogue on truth, justice, reconciliation and the creation of a truth and reconciliation Commission and a special Penal tribunal, and to facilitate and promote local mechanisms of reconciliation and mutual trust. To reach these objectives, Search for Common Ground used radio programming and other community outreach methods to inform and educate the public and create local capacity. The tools used to evaluate these activities in light of the broader objectives included surveys, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The mixed method approach used both qualitative and quantitative data collection in analysis. Ultimately, the evaluation emphasized that the project was meeting the true needs of the target population, particularly in providing information effectively on available transitional justice mechanisms.

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Civil Society Dialogue with Parliamentarians, Case Study: Workshops on the Truth and Reconciliation Law (February 2003)

To facilitate educated discussions on the issues concerned in creating Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, Harvard Law School and Search for Common Ground developed a CD-ROM offering guidance from the experience of five countries that had established such commissions.

The CD-ROM was developed independent of the Burundian situation; it is non-prescriptive, and offers choices to be matched with the circumstances of each country seeking to establish a commission. Using this tool, Search and the International Human Rights Law Group convened three workshops in 2002. The first, in June, included various members of civil society and parliamentarians, as well as a representative of the Technical Judicial Committee charged with drafting the proposed law establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This group met for a day to hear presentations using the CD-ROM, and to discuss the lessons the other countries’ experiences offered for Burundi’s proposed law. In July 2002, the Council of Ministers submitted to the parliament for consideration a proposed TRC law, based on the draft submitted to the Council by the Technical Judicial Committee. In August, Search and the Law Group convened representatives of civil society to review the law, and to develop together, in smaller groups, recommendations for how the law should be changed.

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Field Survey on Burundian Radio Listening Habits, Reactions to Radio Ijambo Programs, and Crisis-Related Listener Needs (January 1999)

This survey was undertaken with two principal goals; first, to build indigenous survey capacity that could provide audience information at all stages, from the time of up-front situation mapping and program planning to follow-up evaluation and secondly, to gather information on the general patterns of radio listening, plus specific data on listener reactions to Studio Ijambo programs.

The study reported here, due to applying the CGP Rapid Survey Method, required only two weeks' time to plan and field, which included conceptualization of the survey method, designing a survey questionnaire, establishment of respondent categories and sample-size quotas within each category, training of a 10-member Burundian survey team, and collection of complete questionnaire returns on a sample of 400 Burundians, complete with quality checks on the returned questionnaires. The survey was conducted in four locations: Bujumbura, the capitol of Burundi; Gatomba, a Hutu displaced village about ten miles west of Bujumbura; Bubanza, a rural town about 30 miles north of Bujumbura; and Gitega, a town about 50 miles east of Bujumbura. The selection of the four locations was intended to provide a diverse representation of the sample, including rural and urban listeners, and Hutus and Tutsis.

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Final Report for: Mass Information in Support of Peaceful Congolese and Burundian Refugee Repatriation

The evaluation of programming in Burundi also suggests several interesting trends regarding impact. Analysis reveals:

• The percentage of all refugees surveyed who said they received information about the repatriation process and about the situation at home from SFCG programs dropped from the baseline to final by 8%. It is possible that this drop is because refugees who are more open to information or who are more motivated to return home have left the camp and those refugees who are less open to information, those who are less trusting of information or those who choose to be less informed have remained.
• The percentage of refugees who believe they have the information to resolve their conflicts dropped from the baseline. This result could also be because the more informed refugees left the camp leaving the less well-equipped refugees behind.
• Women are more informed now than they were during the baseline study, but are still less informed than men.

Download the Burundi Evaluation [In English]

Download the DRC Evaluation [In English]

Women and Governance Project Evaluation

In Burundi, women had not been associated with any level of power previously, from the village level (the hill) up to the government. Thus the general objective of the project to build the capacities of women so that they can take part in political decision making processes is essential for the future of Burundi. Several women explained that they are more at ease when, in a conflict, other women are able to play the role of mediators.

The specific objectives were pertinent with real needs, to build the capacities of 140 associations so that they can defend the interest of women at the municipality level, the province and the whole country; to improve women and girls' access and their participation quality to the governance process.

Nonetheless, the objectives were not fully met because of the followings:

• The project helped a certain number of women to become aware of the importance of electoral rights and their role in participating in power.
• The trainings on civic education emphasized on fundamental rights, including the electoral rights. Participation was analyzed only in relation with the elections, leading the majority of the participants to think that the next participation to the political life of the Country will happen at the elections.
• There was a problem of targeting the beneficiaries: organizations were targeted at the exceptions of political party members and election candidates. Human targeting was challenged by the problem of definition of youth (young adults up to 35 years of age, or unmarried persons). Geographically speaking, Search chose to do the trainings nationwide with a big number of beneficiaries. This had damaging consequences on building capacity for organizational management.

Download the "Women and Governance" Project Evaluation[In French]

Download "Women and Governance" Project Evaluation Comments from SFCG [In French]

Download "Women and Governance" Project Evaluation Key Findings[In English]

2004 Victims of Torture Mid-Term Project Evaluation

This external mid-term evaluation was led by Dr. Sylvestre Barancira and Nathalie Zajde. The Victims of Torture project has the following goal: The reduction of negative effects of torture by assistance to victims and the prevention of acts of torture in Burundi. Some key findings include:

• The VOT project strategy is effective and efficient in achieving the expected results in sensitization of the population and broadcasting testimonies through the media and other publications.
• The system of decentralization established by the main coordination has allowed the project to not only reach the original expected number of 800 VOT project beneficiaries, but to exceed that number as well.
• The system of monitoring needs to be improved by way of an increase in frequency of field visits and the reinforcement of staff capacities.

Download 2004 Victims of Torture Key Findings

Download 2004 Victims of Torture Evaluation

2002 Independent Programme Evaluation Search For Common Ground In Burundi

This document is an independent evaluation of the Search for Common Ground - Burundi programme conducted by Amr Abdalla, Noa Davenport, Leslie McTyre and Steven A. Smith. The overall goal of the Burundi programme is to reduce ethnic conflict and encourage reconciliation. To this end, SFGC currently runs four in-country programs: Studio Ijambo, an independent radio production studio; The Womens' Peace Center, a forum for unifying and strengthening civil society and promoting democratic processes; The Youth Project, a cooperative project which brings together ethnically mixed youth leaders as well as organizes other peace-building projects for youth; and Integration Initiative, a new project aiming to maximize the synergies among and around SFGC projects as they expand both geographically and in scope. Key findings include:

• In terms of cultural appropriateness, SFCG's activities, especially their media ones, seemed to correspond well to the African oral culture, and the social patterns of Burundians
• Interviews with officials in USAID, and the US government, showed much appreciation, if not admiration, of SFCG efforts in Burundi
• As the government and political actors are engaging in more activities geared towards rebuilding Burundi's unity and peace, those involved in these processes could benefit from an increased role by SFCG

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Download Independent Programme Evaluation