Government to consult with donors

The government of Burundi will sponsor a two-day consultation with international donors in the capital, Bujumbura, on 11 and 12 April to discuss a working draft of the country's strategic plan to reduce poverty (CSLP - Cadre strategique interimaire de croissance economique et de lutte contre la pauvrete). The conference will be opened by President Pierre Buyoya, and include presentations by representatives from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Hosted by the Ministry of Development Planning and Reconstruction, the first day will be spent at the Hotel Source du Nil to discuss the strategic plan, which has been elaborated following consultations with Bretton Woods institutions and the Arusha peace accord. The second day will involve visits to community development project sites in Ngozi Province.

Meanwhile, Burundi's vice-president, Domitien Ndayizeye, on Monday appealed to donor countries to press the IMF to release US $840 million in aid to Burundi. "Burundi has received a lot of emergency humanitarian aid in the past, but it now needs money to start long-term projects to rebuild the country," AP reported Ndayizeye as having told journalists at a conference in Rome.

Ndayizeye is on a five-nation tour, during which he is giving briefings on his country's peace process and the resumption of cooperation between Burundi and its partners in the region. The vice-president and his 12-member delegation left Burundi on 31 March and are scheduled to return on 18 April, following visits to Austria, Italy, The Vatican, the UK, Sweden and Belgium.