Germany gives €7.5 million for water, refugees, HIV/AIDS control

Germany and Burundi have signed a cooperation agreement under which Germany will provide €7.5 million (US $9.5 million) for a water supply project, the rehabilitation of refugees and internally displaced people as well as HIV/AIDS control. Burundian Foreign Minister Terence Sinunguruza and the German ambassador to Burundi, Bernd Brown, signed the agreement on Friday in the capital, Bujumbura. Many areas in Burundi experience acute water shortages, particularly the northern province of Kirundo and several communes of the northwestern provinces of Bubanza and Cibitoke, which are prone to frequent cholera outbreaks. However, Sinunguruza did not disclose the specific regions that would benefit from the aid. The agreement was signed at the end of weeklong visit by Brown who was in the country to present his letters of credence to President Domitien Ndayizeye.