Burundi

Legal assistance for minors in prison, Support for children at risk, Assistance for children in a street situation

Terre des hommes (Tdh) has been working in Burundi since 1985, helping children marginalized by the civil war and HIV/AIDS. In 2010, over 10,000 people, including 8,450 children, benefited from the services of Terre des hommes.

Context

Burundi is a small, landlocked country to the south of East Africa. Nicknamed “The little Switzerland of Africa” for its hilly countryside, it is one of the ten poorest countries in the world, and has the lowest per capita GDP. Densely populated, over one half of the inhabitants live below the poverty line.
The lack of social structures, the ravages of AIDS, and the years of civil wars have beaten the country down. Burundi is presently going through a new political crisis since the last elections in Summer 2010, contested by some of the opposition parties. Nearly 10,000 Burundian refugees still live in neighbouring countries and many thousands of people fled to the regions of the interior. Children, orphans or abandoned, are to be found on the streets of the larger towns, where they are exposed to great danger – in particular, child trafficking, which has long existed due to the numerous conflicts. The children are then offered as soldiers, domestic workers or as sex objects.

Our intervention

Minors in conflict with the law – Tdh supports the administration of juvenile justice in order to institute mechanisms to protect child rights. These legal mechanisms aim at protecting minors from the abuses of deprivation of liberty, and promote education and reintegration.

Support of vulnerable children in rural areas – Tdh offers advice and training courses for community groups in rural areas to help children orphaned by war or AIDS. Cared for, given accommodation and schooling, these youngsters are looked after by the social services. Tdh works to support the decentralised government services to strengthen the national system for child protection.

Children in a street situation – With Tdh’s constant support, the partner association Giriyuja makes the youngsters aware of the dangers they run on the streets. Social workers give them access to social, psychological and medical assistance and encourage their family and social reintegration.

• 29.825041 -2.911398

  Ngozi

• 29.929991 -3.425297

  Gitega

• 29.359732 -3.372176

  Bujumbura Province