Burundi

One of the positive outcomes of recent peace processes in Africa’s Great Lakes region has been the increased involvement of women in the public sphere, primarily thanks to the adoption of quota systems for female representation. Women have had some success in influencing official peace processes in the region, ensuring provisions for women’s rights were made. They have been actively engaged as both voters and candidates in elections, but few are elected. Masculine political systems, lack of gender expertise and gender norms and stereotypes remain obstacles to equal representation of women in political and public life. Post-conflict reconstruction has provided economic opportunities for women, but these advances have not necessarily led to more prominent roles in political decision making. This report makes recommendations for civil society, governments and the international community to strengthen women’s political participation and economic empowerment in these post-conflict countries. (Français)

L’un des résultats positifs des processus de paix et des transitions politiques dans la région des Grands Lacs en Afrique ces dix à quinze dernières années, a été la représentation et la participation accrues des femmes dans l’arène politique et dans la sphère publique. Cette avancée majeure pour les femmes a été obtenue essentiellement par l’adoption de systèmes de quotas et par la cooptation. Les femmes sont parvenues, au moins dans une certaine mesure, à influer sur les processus de paix officiels et à s’assurer que les questions relatives à l’égalité des sexes soient prises en considération. Les femmes ont également joué un rôle actif dans les processus politiques en tant qu’électrices et candidates, même si peu d’entre elles ont été élues à des positions de responsabilité. Les périodes de reconstruction post-conflit ont également offert des opportunités pour la promotion économique des femmes, mais les avancées faites par ces dernières dans le domaine économique n’ont pas nécessairement conduit à leur plus grande participation dans la prise de décision politique. La nature masculine des systèmes politiques, les normes et stéréotypes sexo-spécifiques ainsi que le manque d’expertise technique en matière de programmation genre, restent des obstacles majeurs à une représentation égalitaire des femmes dans la sphère politique et la vie publique. Ce rapport fait des recommandations aux gouvernements, à la communauté internationale et aux organisations de la société civile, pour soutenir la partition politique des femmes et renforcer leur pouvoir économique dans les pays qui sortent d’un conflit. (English)

This series of three country “Insights” identifies peacebuilding priorities in Burundi, Liberia and Nepal, and discusses the response of the international institutions operating there.  The focus institutions are primarily the World Bank and the UN. The insights provide a brief snapshot and analysis of each country’s particular peacebuilding needs, as well as the dynamics that either facilitate or hinder institutional ability to address these needs. Findings inform a synthesis report entitled ‘Peacebuilding, the World Bank and the United Nations: Debates and Practice in Burundi, Liberia and Nepal’, the summary of which is available here. This work is part of Alert’s International Institutions Programme which seeks through research and engagement to strengthen the peacebuilding impacts of international institutions in fragile and conflict-affected countries.

Women peacebuilders in various conflict-affected countries face very similar challenges as they attempt to integrate women’s interests in peacebuilding policy processes and civil society actors from different countries can potentially learn a lot from exchanging experiences with each other. This report outlines the findings and recommendations of a workshop with representatives from Burundian and Sierra Leonean civil society organisations working in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment organised by International Alert on 25th to 29th February 2008. The aim of the five-day workshop was to exchange experiences, discuss common challenges and strengthen future collaboration in order to support the integration of gender-related priorities into peacebuilding processes. Throughout the workshop, a number of key policy issues relevant to civil society actors in both countries were raised. A central concern across all issues was the challenge that civil society organisations face in attempting to integrate gender perspectives into peacebuilding policies, particularly security-related activities, and then effectively monitoring the implementation of these policies. The workshop resulted in a number of findings and recommendations that can be built on to ensure enhanced support for women’s organizations to monitor and advocate for the inclusion of gender perspectives in peacebuilding processes.

Coffee farming plays a vital role in the Burundian economy. It is the main industry and export product of the country and provides important income for the roughly 600,000 families (about 40% of the population) who grow it. Reforms of the coffee sector have continued with greater deregulation and privatization, but this process takes places in a specific political and economic context: on the one hand there is a new democratically elected government and generalized poverty which has been aggravated by 10 years of civil war. On the other hand there is a turmoil of diverging interests which will only intensify as reforms proceed. Meanwhile, the movement of coffee growers claims ownership over coffee production and thus seeks control over a good part of the state’s shares in the sector, as well as active participation in all decisions concerning the sector. Faced with this issue, International Alert wishes to contribute to the debate and to propose solutions that will allow the reforms to proceed in a way that serves the common interest of all the players involved. The ultimate aim of the report is to contribute to the prevention of conflicts that could arise in connection with the reforms.

Set up during 2006 with peacebuilding as its sole objective, the UN Peacebuilding Commission has the potential to use its intergovernmental voice to focus attention on the factors that could drive a renewal of conflict. In this light, Alert submitted recommendations in late 2006 on how the PBC could most effectively orientate its short and long-term support to the process of improving security and sustaining peace, for men and women, in Burundi. More widely, this publication also looks at the main challenges for the PBC and how it should focus its activities. The recommendations aim also to draw the PBC’s attention to the “where” and “how” of its engagement. This is because the way it engages with national stakeholders will be a significant determinant of progress towards peace.