Two-year peace consolidation programme launched

To support Burundi's peace process and to provide timely assistance, the United States Agency for International Development-Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI) initiated a two-year programme in March 2002.

A statement from USAID dated 5 April said the programme aimed to support the transition to peace and democracy as articulated in the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Accord (APRA) by building momentum for the implementation of the accord and by promoting a culture of peace and justice.

To achieve the objectives, USAID/OTI was supporting a six-month assistance programme to enhance the Burundian legislature's role in promoting peace and reconciliation, it said.

"The National Democratic Institute [NDI] and the International Republican Institute [IRI] will work closely with Burundi's national assembly and the senate in order to enhance awareness among Burundian legislators of their roles and responsibilities in APRA, and to increase dialogue and cooperation among legislators from different political parties," the statement said. The programme would also encourage representatives to undertake outreach initiatives designed to promote public dialogue and participation, it added.

The two institutes [NDI and IRI] will organise an orientation conference for legislators from both chambers; conduct thematic training workshops to facilitate legislators' understanding of their roles and responsibilities; and enhance the internal communication capacity of the legislature to better inform Burundians on its role as a national institution and a catalyst for peace and reconciliation in the country.

Another aspect to be implemented is the Burundi Initiative for Peace, which, according to the statement, will be implemented with the support of the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES).

IFES would provide a series of small grants to encourage popular support for APRA and for the transitional government, the statement said, adding that it would work in targeted geographic areas to support activities which maintained the momentum for peace.

Meanwhile, Burundi's vice-president, Domitien Ndayizeye, on Monday appealed to donor countries to press the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release US $840 million in aid to Burundi, AP reported. "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," Ndayizeye told journalists in Rome at a conference hosted by the Sant' Egidio Community, a Roman Catholic group.

AP quoted Ndayizeye as saying that an IMF delegation was scheduled to arrive in the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, on Wednesday to start reviewing how the government planned to use the money.

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.