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Country information
Area: 27,834 sq km
Population: 8,300,000
Capital City: Bujumbura (population approx. 800,000)
People: Hutu 85%, Tutsi 14%, Twa 1%, European 3,000, South Asian 2,000.
Language(s): Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and the Bujumbura area)
Religion(s): Catholicism, Islam, Animist
Currency Burundi franc = 100 centimes
Major political parties: National Council for the Defence of Democracy- Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD); Burundi Democratic Front (FRODEBU); Unity for National Progress (UPRONA). Others - National Council for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD); Party for National Redress (PARENA); Movement for the Reabilitation of the Citizen (MRC).
Head of State: President Pierre Nkurunziza
First Vice President: Dr Yves Sahinguvu
Second Vice President: Gabriel Ntisezerana
Minister for External Relations and Co-operation: Antoinette Batumubwira
Membership of International groupings: African Union (AU), UN, Common Market of East and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African community (EAC).
HEALTH
Health requirements:
Health Needs
ECONOMY
GDP: US$1bn (2007 est.)
Real GDP Growth: 5.5% (2007 est.)
Inflation: 7.0% (2007 est.)
Major Exports: Coffee, tea, manufacture
Major Trading Partners: Exports – Germany (22.8%), Switzerland (10.9%), Belgium (7.0%), Rwanda (6.8%).
Imports – Kenya (13.5%), Italy (10.8%),Tanzania (7.9%), Belgium (6.9%).
Exchange Rate: Franc Burundais 1,065 = US$1 (2007 est.)
The mainstay of the Burundian economy is agriculture, accounting for some 49% of GDP, and supporting more than 90% of the labour force. Continued insecurity, overpopulation, and soil erosion have contributed to a significant contraction of the subsistence economy in recent years. The main cash crop is coffee with other principal exports including tea and raw cotton. Although potential wealth in petroleum, nickel, copper, and other natural resources is being explored, the uncertain security situation has prevented meaningful investor interest. Industrial development also is hampered by Burundi's distance from the sea and high transport costs. The real economy was expected to grow at 5.5% in 2007 and inflation was expected to be 7%.
IMF Country Reports - Burundi
HISTORY
Burundi existed as an independent Kingdom for several centuries before becoming part of German East Africa in 1899. After WWI it became the Belgian-run territory of ‘Ruanda-Urundi’, with neighbouring Rwanda, under a League of Nations mandate. Following independence in 01 July 1962, Burundi was run by a series of brutal regimes dominated by the minority Tutsi group. Massacres in 1972 killed an estimated 300,000 of which the majority were Hutu. In 1987 Major Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, took control in a bloodless coup and initiated a 5-year transition to democracy.
Burundi's first ever election, held in 1993, was won by a Hutu. Elements of the Tutsi-dominated army assassinated the new President a few months later, triggering the start of a long-running conflict between the army and Hutu rebel groups that cost an estimated 500,000 lives. In 1996 Buyoya again took power but was unable to stop the violence. Under pressure from the region, negotiations between the belligerents began in 1998, and in 2000 a peace agreement was concluded in Arusha, Tanzania. It was signed by all parties except 4 hard-line rebel groups. Violence between these groups and the army continued, despite the institution of a transitional government in 2002, until separate cease-fire agreements were concluded with 3 of them during the second half of 2003. The UN deployed a peacekeeping force in Burundi (ONUB) in June 2004, and successful elections between June and September 2005 ended the transition and installed Pierre Nkurunziza’s CNDD-FDD party in power.
The Parti pour la Liberation Forces (Palipehutu-FNL) rebel group finally entered the peace process in September 2006 after the signature of a ceasefire agreement with the government. Work to implement this agreement has been slow. The Palipehutu-FNL leadership returned to Burundi in May 2008 for peace talks. A cessation of hostilities was signed on 26 May 2008 to end hostilities between the Governemnt of Burundi and the Palipehutu-FNL.
ONUB gradually drew down its peacekeeping troops during 2006, and handed over to an integrated United Nations office (BINUB) in February 2007. BINUB’s mandate has four pillars: peace consolidation; Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration and Security Sector Reform (DDR/SSR); promotion of human rights; and co-ordination of UN agencies and international donors.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Burundi enjoys generally good relations with neighbouring states. Regional states, including Uganda, South Africa and Tanzania, continue to play a role in the post-conflict process. Burundi is seeking to strengthen its regional position and has been granted admission to the East African Community, comprising Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania and is also a participant in the Great Lakes Conference process. Small numbers of Burundian troops were engaged in the DRC at the start of the 1998 – 2003 war in pursuit of Burundian rebels, but it was not involved in the wider regional conflict and relations between Burundi and the DRC have since been normalised. As of August 2007 there were estimated to be more than 350,000 Burundian refugees in Tanzania, although an equal number have returned to Burundi since 2002.
Burundi's Relations with the UK
Diplomatic Representation
Britain and Burundi have excellent relations. The British Ambassador to Rwanda is non-resident Ambassador to Burundi. The Embassy has a Liaison Office in Bujumbura. The Department for International Development (DFID) opened an office in Bujumbura in 2002. The Burundian Ambassador to Belgium is accredited as Ambassador to the UK.
Recent Visits
Outward: Hilary Benn, the then Secretary of State for International Development, (November 2005), Jack Straw, the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (January 2002), Clare Short, the then Secretary of State for International Development (February 2002).
Inward: First Vice President Martin Nduwimana (April 2007), Minister for External Relations and International Co-operation Antoinette Batumubwira (March 2006), Minister of State Pierre Nkurunziza (November 2004), Vice President Domitien Ndayizeye (April 2002 and again – as President – in July 2003), Foreign Minister Therence Sinunguruza in February 2003, Former President Buyoya October 2003.
GEOGRAPHY
Burundi is a small land-locked mountainous country lying south of the Equator in Central Africa. It shares borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania, and Rwanda. It has a temperate climate with 2 rainy seasons (March to May; October to December). Official languages are Kirundi, French and Swahili.
TRADE AND INVESTMENT
Trade and Investment in the UK
Trade with Burundi is small. From January-November 2006, UK exports to Burundi totalled £0.94 million and imports from Burundi were £0.64 million.
Development
Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world. Some 68% of the population live below the poverty line with income of less than US$1 per day, and per capita income estimated at $104, well below the pre-war level of $151, and much lower than the current sub-Saharan average of $536. It is near the bottom of the Human Development Index, ranking 169 out of 177 countries. Burundi’s level of foreign debt remains severe, even after relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative. Burundi’s debt-to-export ratio was expected to fall below 200% in 2006.
United Nations Development Programme
The UK’s bilateral assistance programme to Burundi has grown over recent years, from £3.2m in 2002/3 to £9.5 million in 2005/6 and to £10 million in 2006/2007 which was usede to meet humanitarian needs and aid poverty reduction. The UK has allocated £10 million for 2007/8 for humanitarian needs and delivery of key services, including education and health, in partnership with other donors.
DFID is working with other donors to support Burundi’s first Poverty Reduction Strategy. DFID has sector wide approaches for Health and Education and also for developing a joint £6m Governance Programme with Sida to promote democratic governance over the next 3 years. Burundi is amongst the first countries to benefit from the International Health Partnership which aims to improve the way that international agencies, donors and poor countries work together to develop and implement health plans.
DFID has contributed £30 million to Burundi through the United Nations Peace Building Fund for a three year period.
POLITICS
The transitional government split power between the 2 most important political parties, UPRONA and FRODEBU. Tutsi-dominated UPRONA was the only legal party from 1974 and provided all of Burundi's post-independence Presidents until 1993. FRODEBU, a largely Hutu party, won the elections of 1993. The transitional Presidency from 2002 to 2005 was shared between UPRONA leader Pierre Buyoya and FRODEBU head Domitien Ndayizeye.
Elections in 2005 ended this bipartisan consensus. Hutu rebel groups, notably the CNDD-FDD, changed into political organisations following the end of hostilities, and won an overwhelming victory at all levels in the elections. Large numbers of Tutsi joined previously Hutu parties, and UPRONA and FRODEBU faded as electoral powers, though ethnic divisions remain politically salient. The new Government, largely comprised of former rebel leaders, faced a steep learning curve. In July 2006, a wide range of key opposition figures, including former President Ndayizeye were arrested after the authorities claimed to have uncovered a 'coup' plot. They were finally released after 5 months in detention. Then, in early 2007, the President of the CNDD-FDD was arrested and his supporters within the party removed. This split lost the CNDD-FDD their majority in the National Assembly, and the resulting paralysis of government (no significant legislation was passed between April and November 2007) has led President Nkurunziza to seek alliances with UPRONA and FRODEBU resulting in the announcement of a Government of National Unity on 14 November 2007.
BBC News Country Profile: Burundi
BBC News: Africa
HUMAN RIGHTS
The human rights situation in Burundi remains poor, with widespread abuses committed by all parties, particularly in the rural areas surrounding the capital. Tens of thousands of people remain internally displaced. Killing of civilians, reprisal killings, torture, rape, theft, illegal and arbitrary detention, and forced labour have been reported. Rape and gang rape against women, girls and boys is on the increase. The judicial system has little capacity to act in timely and impartial manner, and impunity is pervasive. The indigenous Twa (Pygmy) people remain marginalised economically, socially, and politically.
Towards the end of 2006 the media and some independent human rights NGOs became increasingly critical of the government’s activities, and faced official obstruction. Political opposition figures have reportedly been harrassed, and former CNDD-FDD Party President Radjabu remains in prison awaiting trial. A Tripartite Commission comprising the Government of Burundi, UN and Civil Society representatives has been appointed to carry out national consultations on the future of transitional justice mechanisms in Burundi to deal with the legacy of human rights abuses and impunity from the war years.
Human Rights Annual Report 2006
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Contacts
Address:
Embassy of the Republic of Burundi
46 Square Marie-Louise, 1000 Brussels
Telephone:
(00) (322) 230 45 35
(00) (322) 230 45 48
Fax:
(00) (322) 230 78 83
(00) (322) 230 21 95
Email: ambassade.burundi@skynet.be
Office hours:
Website: www.ambassade-burundi.be