Geneva, 1 March 2016
1. Brief description of the emergency
Following the post-election violence in Burundi and the continued deterioration of the lives of affected population, the ACT Alliance members in Burundi are concerned about its impact on the economy and their livelihood systems. A total of 263,000 Burundian refugees and asylum seekers have arrived in the neighbouring countries of Tanzania, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Rwanda since April.
Internal displacement has been difficult to ascertain due to the complex political situation but current figures estimate at least 25,000 across a few of the provinces who are accommodated by host communities in the respective provinces. Given that the situation in Burundi remains volatile, more displacement is expected. Initially, most of the refugees were women and children, while recently it is observed that a growing number of young men are among the arrivals. In addition to population directly influenced by the political situation, Burundi also has more than 900,000 people who are severely affected by food shortages, 150,000 children are malnourished and without services due to aggravation of crisis and suspension of funding by external donors. An estimated 30,000 are affected by floods and landslides are also without services from the government.