2018 BI4004 Dukuze Promoting Quality Education in Safe Schools

Burundi has experienced multiple periods of unrest since its independence (civil and inter-ethnic wars, political crises, etc.). As recent developments, the decision of the ruling party in April 2015 to present the candidacy of Burundi President for the third term and the popular protest that followed plunged Burundi into a political crisis with serious implications at socio-economic and human rights levels. There is no armed conflict in the country at present, but the political crisis and subsequent economic sanctions have created serious economic problems in the country. According to the Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies of Burundi (ISTEBU), more than 65% of Burundians live below the poverty line. Almost the whole population is affected by this crisis, but children who were already in vulnerable situations (those who are out of school, heads of household, young mothers, IDPs, etc.) are more affected than others, and their rights are violated. Some of them do not go to school because of the lack of school materials or fees and have to slide towards child labor. On the other hand, even for children who still have parents and be in their families, rural families’ livelihoods have been severely affected by the crisis that undermined agricultural activities, disrupted rural markets and negatively affected an already stagnant economic situation. These factors all contributed to: increase of food prices, reduced purchasing power, loss of jobs and income opportunities pushing people to adopt negative coping mechanisms such as: reduction of expenditure on agricultural inputs, begging, selling of farm land. See: https://www.unocha.org/legacy/southern-and-eastern-africa/country-profiles/burundi and https://reliefweb.int/report/burundi/wfp-burundi-crisis-regional-impact-situation-report-22-31-may-2016 As a result, the number of vulnerable children is increasing alarmingly.