Burundi Humanitarian Situation Report No. 2

REG. NO. 98/0008
Period covered: 17-26 January

The information contained in this report was provided by the Office of the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Operational Activities in Burundi, UN Agencies, International Organisations and NGOs

GENERAL

Bujumbura calmer. The situation in and around Bujumbura was somewhat calmer this week despite continued sporadic bouts of fighting between military and rebels in the surrounding hills. On 18 January, rebels advanced as far as the northern neighbourhood of Mutanga but were repelled by government soldiers. That day clashes also took place in the neighbourhood of Gikungu/Gihosha in Gasenyi during which seven rebels, three soldiers and one civilian were killed, according to military sources. The first section of RN1, from Bujumbura to Bugarama, i.e., one of the main roads used to access the interior of the country, remained closed to all UN traffic throughout the week. On 22 and 23 January the RN7, the only alternative route to leave Bujumbura for Ijenda, Gitega, Ngozi and onwards to Kigali, was also closed to all UN circulation due to military operations. The closure of these roads effectively left the UN community without a means of leaving the city and yet again highlighted the need to establish a regular and reliable air-link out of the country. The UN curfew in the capital remains set at 21h00.

In other security incidents, 31 civilians were reportedly killed by Palipehutu and Interahamwe rebels emerging from the Kibira forest in Gituhura in Cibitoke's Mabayi commune the night of the 18th to the 19th. AFP reported 20 rebels, 12 civilians and one soldier killed in an attack in Rumonge the night of the 20th to the 21st while the following night rebels allegedly attempted to attack the Bugendana IDP camp in Gitega before being repulsed by the army.

Arusha meeting. Delegates from 46 mainly African countries met from 21 to 23 January in the Tanzanian town of Arusha to discuss the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa. The meeting, an initiative of the Julius Nyerere foundation, was attended, among others, by Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. Burundi was represented by Foreign Minister Luc Rukingama. CNDD representatives also attended but no formal talks on Burundi took place as this was not the specific focus of the forum. In his closing speech, however, Mwalimu Nyerere charged the Burundian Government with presenting a hindrance to the peace process.

Business delegation urges end to sanctions. A delegation of businessmen representing the executive council of the Eastern and Southern Africa Business Organisation, ESABO, has urged member governments of COMESA, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, to endorse the lifting of the over 16-month-old embargo that was imposed on Burundi shortly after the July 1996 coup. After a visit to Burundi, the eight delegates from Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Rwanda concluded that the sanctions served no useful economic or political purpose and were in fact counter-productive.

On 25 January, Tanzanian radio reported that Burundi's Foreign Minister, Luc Rukingama, has indicated that his government wished to invite the foreign ministers of those countries imposing the embargo on Burundi to a meeting early in February to discuss the lifting of sanctions. He proposed Kampala as a venue.

HUMANITARIAN ACTIVITIES

Update on refugee/returnee statistics. According to the latest statistics provided by UNHCR, a total of 177,746 Burundians have returned since 1996 and 493,522 remain refugees outside the country. The following table provides a breakdown by country.

*Includes 200,000 old-caseload (1970s) displaced that were excluded from past reports since they were not expected to repatriate. However, due to a number of expulsions from this group, the figures are now being included for planning purposes.

Bubanza coordination. Two coordination meetings were held during the reporting period to discuss the evolving humanitarian situation in Bubanza province. One was convened by the Governor at his provincial head office, gathering all UN Agencies and INGOs intervening in the province to review aid provided in 1997 and assistance planned for 1998. The Governor indicated that some of the nearly 130,000 displaced living in sites would be returning to their homes and would require support from the international community. All participants agreed that closer cooperation between local authorities and humanitarian agencies was required. UNHCR, in its role as lead agency for the province, also held its bi-weekly coordination meeting at which security and programme-related matters were discussed.

Overview of 1998 activities: Save the Children Fund - UK. Over the course of 1998 the British NGO Save the Children (SCF) will continue, in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Health, to rehabilitate and provide general support to 24 health centres located in Gitega and southern Muramvya provinces. The project aims to strengthen public health infrastructure, improve skills of medical staff employed in the health centres, and provide equipment and medicine as required. SCF will also support vaccination campaigns, maintain the cold chain, provide AIDS counselling and assist populations who have difficult access to health centres through a mobile clinic. Particular emphasis will be placed on building the capacity of provincial authorities to enable them to eventually provide the above services themselves. Finally, SCF also plans to set up a nationally coordinated programme for unaccompanied children that will be implemented in collaboration with UNICEF and the Ministry for Social Action.

Nutritional survey and food security training workshop underway in Gitega. WFP is presently holding an intensive two-week workshop in Gitega to train staff involved in needs assessments on the food economy analysis methodology. The seminar includes daily evaluations in the field with a view to gaining a provincial rather than a site-by-site assessment. At the same time, SCF-UK, in conjunction with Oxfam-UK, is carrying out a nutritional survey. Results of both surveys will complement each other.

World Vision support to the health sector. World Vision (WV) mainly carries out activities in the infrastructure rehabilitation, unaccompanied children, non-food, income-generation and health sectors. WV currently runs two clinics (Jabe and Rohero) and a feeding centre in Bujumbura. The clinics, run in conjunction with its partner, African Revival Ministries, have in- and out-patient departments and provide affordable quality health care and emergency surgical services. The clinics have been particularly overwhelmed due to the rise in number of war-related injuries they have been receiving since the beginning of the year. To better serve the population, WV provided an emergency mobile unit (4WD and medical doctor) to collect the wounded and administer emergency first aid. WV also provided a nurse to help support the MSF Belgium team administering emergency care to the wounded. The feeding centre supported by WV is located at the Johnson centre and is currently treating 27 patients.

More arrivals at Rwegura feeding centre in Kayanza. The French NGO Action Contre la Faim, ACF, has registered 450 patients in need of therapeutic feeding at their feeding centre located in Rwegura, a former site from which the then displaced population was forcibly moved in November of last year. As the centre initially was meant to serve only fifty people, ACF, in agreement with local authorities, is building a new, larger centre nearby to better accommodate the patients.

MSF Switzerland programme for 1998. MSF Switzerland, the fourth MSF branch to arrive following Belgium, France and Holland, has been working in Burundi since November 1995. The Swiss branch is currently working in the eastern provinces of Ruyigi (Kinyinya commune) and Cankuzo. In Kinyinya, MSF runs the 45-bed hospital which was completed by the French Mission for Cooperation in October 1995 and serves a population of 50,000 people. The hospital features different units (internal medicine, pediatrics, therapeutic feeding, obstetrics/gynecology, surgery, radiology and a laboratory) and a polyclinic which provides consultations, mother- and child-care and vaccinations. MSF-Sw. places particular focus on the training of local staff, the introduction of a cost-recovery system and the provision of medicine not covered by the Central Pharmacy. In 1998, it is planned to gradually hand over the management of the hospital to the Ministry of Public Health. In Cankuzo, MSF Sw. also supports the provincial hospital that is serving a population of 170,000 with special emphasis on the surgical unit. Eight health centres also benefit from assistance through the provision of medical supplies and rainwater catchments. Eight of Burundi's fifteen provinces are presently benefiting from the various MSF branches' support to health services.

Children's Aid Direct (CAD) supports integrated nutrition-agriculture programme. CAD is about to launch a pilot programme at three health centres in Bubanza where the NGO is implementing supplementary nutritional feeding programmes. The objective of the programme is to enable mothers of the children registered at the feeding centres to improve their own food security situation, reduce dependence and improve their nutritional status through encouraging productive activities. This will be achieved through the creation of 100-member women's groups at the health centres, allocation of one hectare per health centre for cultivation (authorities), provision of seeds, tools, fertilizers and technical assistance (FAO), provision of Food for Work prior to the harvest (WFP), and provision of supervision and health, hygiene and nutrition workshops (CAD).

WFP distributions reduced due to stock shortage. As a result of pipeline delays caused by heavy flooding that has blocked road access in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, WFP has been forced to limit despatches to populations most in need until food stocks can be replenished. Among those receiving priority assistance during the previous week were over 18,000 people who had been displaced by the recent fighting in and around Bujumbura. This included 8,934 people who returned to Rukaramu, and 9,000 people at Kamenge, Mutumba and Buhonga Parishes.

FAO agricultural coordination. The FAO agricultural emergency coordination unit held its weekly meeting with a dozen UN and NGO partners implicated in the distribution of seeds and tools for the upcoming 1998-B season. The UN Office for Project Services, UNOPS, is providing funding to cover fuel and other transport costs. Stock situation permitting (see above), WFP may distribute seed protection rations in food deficit areas that are in the process of being identified.

This report is available on the internet through RELIEFWEB: http://www.reliefweb.int

Mr. Mirza Hussain Khan

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator
Tel.: (257) 218 034
Fax: (257) 225 850

Inter-Agency Support Branch (IASB) - Geneva
Mr. David Bassiouni - Chief
Mr. Thierry Delbreuve
Tel.: (41 22) 788.3841
Fax: (41 22) 788.6386
Registry E-Mail: Abu.Conteh@dha.unicc.org

Complex Emergencies Division (CED) - New York
Mr. Ramesh Rajasingham
Tel.: (1 212) 963.0308
Fax: (1 212) 963.1388
E-Mail : rajasingham@un.org

Press to contact (OCHA-Geneva)
Ms. Madeleine Moulin-Acevedo
Tel.: (41 22) 917.2856
Fax: (41 22) 917.0023
Telex: 414242 DHA CH
E-Mail: Moulin-Acevedo@dha.unicc.org