ASC partners organise an African Solidarity event, and in doing so inspire others to follow suit
In an attempt to ensure free and fair elections in the country, the inter-Burundian dialogue resumed this month, facilitated by Abodulaye Bathily of the United Nation’s (UN). The Government of Burundi, the ruling political party (CNDD-FDD) and its allies boycotted discussions, as they did not see the dialogue as being a priority. We were informed by a partner from the African Insider Mediators Platform (AIMP) who is based in Burundi, that the country has been experiencing grenade explosions in the run up to the parliamentary and presidential elections, which have caused a feeling of serious threat among civil society and those that are affected.
However, amidst the challenges faced by Burundians several partners*, collaborated to organize an Africa day event to discuss “The issue of peace in Burundi now”. Out of this event emerged recommendations to deal with the underlying causes of problems and issues in the country. According to the executive secretary of COPA-Burundi, Sylvère NSENGIYUMVA; “other organizations have started to organize activities in the capital after our Africa day celebration. A lot of NGO’s, UN and Embassies came to see if it’s possible to organize a gathering in this situation and we showed that this possible”.
*The Coalition for Peace in Burundi (COPA-Burundi), the Initiative et Changement Burundi (ICB) in collaboration with ASC and ZID/ZFD (German organization)