2018 BI4002 Building children's resilience through protection and psychosocial support in Burundi

Burundi has experienced political and security instability for several decades, making it today one of the poorest countries in the world. Burundi is ranked 184th out of the 188 countries listed in the March 21, 2017 report on the ranking of countries at the level of the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). This context has been worsen by the political and economic crisis that began in 2015 linked to the third controversial mandate of the ruling president. This has resulted in internal and external displacement of Burundians, half of whom are children under 18 years of age. In this context of severe poverty and political instability, community-based child protection mechanisms are no longer dynamic or even don't exist in some parts of the country, exposing children to multiple protection risks: heavy work , sexual exploitation, denial of the right to education, corporal punishment, non-registration of births in the registry of civil status. These risks occur in both households and schools, and push several thousands of children to drop out of school or fail each year. This project aims to create and strengthen community-based child protection mechanisms, help them creating and implementing risk reduction plans and provide opportunities for children to play and express themselves, in order to develop their resilience.