NGO launches US $5.5 million rehabilitation programme

Counterpart International, a non-profit human development organisation, has begun implementing a two-year US $5.5 million community reintegration and training programme for post-conflict areas in Burundi, the organisation reported on Wednesday. In a statement, Counterpart International reported that USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) chose it in January to implement the programme, alongside other development partners. The programme, which started in February, is aimed at re-building communities that have been devastated by a decade of civil war in the country. Counterpart International said the primary goal of the programme was to support the momentum of the ongoing peace process and political transition by promoting reintegration activities. It said that under the programme, local and national constituencies for peace would be established; cooperation among diverse groups of people promoted; community-level participation in local governance increased; livelihoods improved; and economic opportunities increased. "Burundi has been deeply affected by the war between its Tutsi minority and Hutu majority," the NGO reported. "Consistent and widespread fighting forced hundreds of thousands of Burundians out of their communities and into neighboring regions and countries." It said that the signing of a power-sharing accord between the transitional government and the major rebel group in the country in November 2003 had inspired significant returns of Burundians to their homes. "Responding to the needs of the refugees, IDPs [internally displaced people] and ex-combatants, Counterpart and partners will use OTI funds for community-based leadership programmes, providing vocational skills training, media programming, and administering a small grants programme for Burundi's Ruyigi and Gitega provinces, in order to provide returnees and their communities with the resources and skills needed to successfully restart community life," it said.