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Countries & Regions


Burundi

Burundi has a population estimated at 8.3 million (UN, 2009) with an area of 27,816 sq km (10,740 sq miles). The capital is Bujumbura. The major languages are Kirundi (official), French (official) and Swahili.

Since its independence in 1961, Burundi has been experienced tension between the dominant Tutsi minority and the Hutu majority. Burundi is currently emerging from a 12-year civil war. There was a high incidence of rape and other sexual violence against women and girls.

  • Burundi ratified The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in January 8, 1992

  • Burundi does not have a National Action Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325)

  • Burundi had a UN peacekeeping mandate: United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB) from June 2004 to December 2006


Sources:BBC; Amnesty International; UNIFEM

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  • March 13, 2012 (OpenDemocracy)
    BURUNDI: Changing Lives in Burundi: "Now I am no longer beaten" Women in Burundi have won radical changes to the country's Penal Code, making rape punishable by life imprisonment. The taboo of speaking out against sexual violence has been broken and the lives of some women - and men - are beginning to change forever, says Lyduine Ruronona
  • March 8, 2011 (The Guardian )
    BURUNDI: Life in Burundi on International Women's Day She should stay at home and take care of household chores" is a phrase I was familiar with as a child. When the school system was introduced in Burundi, only boys were allowed to attend. To a certain extent, this attitude still exists today. People say "no education for girls" in order to emphasise that the role of girls is elsewhere.
  • December 7, 2010 (IRIN)
    BURUNDI: Using Men to Empower Women For a long time, Merthus Ntahobakuriye, 53, did not think much of being drunk daily or refusing to help out with household chores. He sold the little they had to maintain his drinking habit. "Whenever my wife went to work in the field, she would come back to find that I had sold everything I could lay my hands on. One day she got a goat from her family; I couldn't resist selling even this one," Ntahobakuriye told a meeting of women leaders in the commune of Mutimbuzi, Bujumbura-Rurale Province, which surrounds the Burundian capital, Bujumbura.
  • November 9, 2010 (Radio Netherlands Worldwide)
    BURUNDI: The Battered Women of Burundi In Burundi, strong legal provisions on violence against women exist. However, they are not observed and this is why women like Nibizi are still in danger.
  • August 24, 2010 (Galdu)
    CENTRAL AFRICA: Africa's Indigenous Batwa Community Decries High Rate of Violence Against Women The original inhabitants of the equatorial forests of Africa's Great Lakes region – the Batwa Indigenous community - are decrying the high rate of violence against women, says a new report.

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Sources

BBC Countries Profiles

Amnesty International

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

WILPF Burundi Section

President/IEC Member

Basilissa NDAYIZIGA
c/o Centre pour Femmes
Old East Building 1er Stage
BP 6180 Bujumbura
Burundi
Tel:+257 220 220/Mobile: +257 950 593
Fax: +257 218 310
Email: basilisand(at)yahoo.fr

WILPF Burundi Section

 

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