BUJUMBURA October 19th (ABP) – The place of the child is not in the residential centers for children, the best environment for a child is his family as indicated on Tuesday the 19th by Mr. Donatien Nyabenda, deputy head of the provincial directorate of family and social development in Bujumbura province (western Burundi) during an interview with a check by ABP.
Speaking of the “Umwana Mu Muryango” (UMMU: child in family) project, a project implemented by the Government of Burundi through the Ministry of National Solidarity, Social Affairs, Human Rights and Gender in collaboration with the NGOs International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Dutabarane (help one another), he indicated that the project aims at alternative care for children and deinstitutionalization, which means that the place of the child is not in residential centers for children but the best environment for a child is his family.
In that project, Mr. Nyabenda continued to say, children who are in residential centers for children (CRE) are identified, then the living conditions of their families of origin are assessed and these children are reintegrated.
He is delighted with the step taken in this reintegration process because, according to him, before the “Umwana mu Muryango” project, there were many residential centers for children, especially in Mutimbuzi commune in Gatumba and Rubirizi, but the number of those centers has currently decreased because the owners of those CRE understood the importance of that project and agreed to collaborate with the government, which made it possible to reintegrate a good number of children, he confided to the check by ABP.
The deputy head of the provincial directorate of family and social development is also delighted with the achievements of the project and thanks the NGO IRC which builds the capacity of their social workers in the communes and the modules relate to the identification of children in difficulty, support through case identification and management.