Funding shortfall limits UN agencies' activities

The various UN agencies' consolidated appeal for Burundi is one of the most underfunded of all complex emergencies, Mountain said. He warned that although the humanitarian community's two-pronged approach was to provide emergency assistance to affected communities while gradually shifting to long-term resettlement of displaced persons, a lack of funding meant most activities in Burundi were limited to emergency aid.

The sectors most affected by a lack of funds, were health, water and sanitation, education, child reunification and human rights activities, according to the CAP mid-term review, received by IRIN. It said funding shortfalls in the health sector had severely constrained agencies' capacity to react to the outbreak of diseases and precluded an AIDS/HIV awareness campaign, which "can only increase the vulnerability of a population that is already severely affected by this disease".