Burundi - Project History
Burundi has a population of 6.7 million people. It is a small country, with less than 11,000 square miles, and it is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa. The country lies to the south of Rwanda, between Tanzania and the Congo, and it has suffered from the same ethnic strife between Hutu and Tutsi as Rwanda. Burundi's gross domestic product is less than a billion dollars per year, and it is one of the poorest countries in the world. Burundi ranks 171st out of 173 on the World Bank's human development index.
NGOs and grassroots organizations gradually emerged as service providing organizations in the early 1990's. They still have limited institutional capacity. They need training in project design, implementation, development, monitoring/evaluation, financial management and networking. Due to the extreme poverty of their members, they lack the resources to self-finance their programs. They generally undertake activities when they receive resources from a donor. When the funding is over, they are not able to carry on the activity. They need help in establishing on-going projects and services. In addition, movement throughout the country can be delayed by sporadic warfare.
Burundi - Technical Assistance to NGOs
SID is carrying out a program in Burundi with Africare, a U.S. international development organization with programs throughout Africa. Africare and SID will help 25 NGOs that work in rural development and 20 NGOs that work in HIV/AIDS in the Gitega and Karusi provinces of the country to improve the impact and coverage of their projects.
The best way to build
a sustainable NGO sector in Burundi is to help establish a critical mass of
competent, sustainable NGOs in key sectors such as community development and
HIV/AIDS. These NGOs will be a standard of competence and success that
others will then emulate. They will also be bases for establishing networks
that provide supporting services and help new NGOs establish competence and
sustainability.
