Burundi: Community-Based Peace and Reconciliation Initiative
AECOM International Development (as PADCO) implemented the USAID Office of Transition Initiatives' Community-Based Peace and Reconciliation Initiative (CPRI) in Burundi. CPRI promoted local and national reconciliation within the Burundian peace process. The initiative was divided into four components: the Community-Based Leadership Program (CBLP), Vocational Skills Training (VST), support for community initiatives (community infrastructure), and support for a media program.
The CBLP component sent 20 Burundian facilitators to work in nine communes across two provinces heavily affected by conflict. They taught communication, conflict resolution, and participatory decision-making skills so that community leaders could facilitate popular participation in the identification and resolution of problems. More than 7,000 Burundians benefited directly from the program, which included issuance of almost $3.3 million in in-kind grants to finance more than 140 community initiatives, including the construction of schools and communal offices, installation of water points, and rehabilitation of public markets.
Eight VST schools were established to teach masonry, roofing, carpentry, sewing, brick and tile making, and bread making. The VST program involved more than 90 grants totaling approximately $1.9 million. Students followed a CBLP-designed curriculum covering such conflict-relevant topics as civic education and land laws. More than 3,300 completion certificates were awarded over the course of the program. Many VST graduates joined forces to form more than 300 business associations through which they were able to apply for start-up capital, equipment, and materials.
Local-level groups involved in community initiatives were eligible to receive CPRI grants for infrastructure reconstruction, workshops, or income-generating activities. In addition, CPRI supported the production and dissemination of balanced reporting on the peace process. Burundi National Radio and Television and independent radio station Bonesha FM made weekly visits to Gitega, Ruyigi, and other provinces to gather perspectives on the peace process and accounts of successful reconciliation activities. More than $1 million in media grants yielded 1,606 radio programs clocking more than 850 broadcast hours and more than 500 TV programs spread across more than 130 broadcast hours.
