MAKAMBA January 19th (ABP) – Around 74 returnees were welcomed on Wednesday January 17, 2024 at the Gitara transit center in Mabanda commune of Makamba province (southern Burundi), a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
The Ministry of Solidarity, Human Rights and Gender, represented by the Director General for the Promotion of Women and Gender Equality, Mrs. Donatienne Girukwishaka, explained to those returnees the step taken by the government of Burundi on the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325.
Ms. Girukwishaka indicated that that resolution consists of conflict prevention, protection of women and girls, participation and economic recovery of women and girls. She asked those returnees to join other Burundians in cooperatives and associations for the protection of human rights, fighting against violence of all forms against women, girls and children.
The protection officer at UNHCR, Mrs. Valérie Komguemi Lienou, who represented the head of office, Makamba branch, indicated that she is delighted with the collaboration between UNHCR and the government of Burundi with regard to the assistance of repatriated.
The Director General of Repatriation, Resettlement and Reintegration at the Ministry of the Interior, Mr. Nestor Bimenyimana, advised those returnees to tackle empowerment work by cultivating their fields and by breeding so that the surplus is sold to the market, which will provide them with money. He also asked them to register their children and marriages in the civil status services of their respective communes, without forgetting to enroll their children in schools.
In her welcoming remarks, the governor of Makamba, Mrs. Auntie Ncutinamagara, called on those returnees to raise small livestock, including rabbits, through the amount they receive as return package.