BUJUMBURA, April 25th (ABP) – The Cabinet met on Wednesday 17 April in Gitega (central Burundi), under the chairmanship of the Head of State, Evariste Ndayishimiye, according to a press release from the Secretary General of the State, Jérôme Niyonzima.
The press release states that the note on the effects of climate change in Burundi, presented by the Minister of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock Prosper Dodiko, has been analysed.
The same press release points out that the El Nino phenomenon, observed in 2014, is now resurfacing, with the waters of Lake Tanganyika gradually rising since 2018. Lake Tanganyika is reaching its peak that year, exceeding the highest level it reached in 1964. That phenomenon is the cause of the heavy rainfall and is affecting many people, while others are now internally displaced, especially in Gatonga displaced, especially in Gatumba. The people are also threatened by aquatic animals such as hippos and crocodiles. The most urgent task is to relocate the people affected and provide them with food and non-food aid, and then to consider other short, medium and long-term actions.
After discussing the memorandum, the Cabinet reached the following conclusions. The affected population, especially that of Gatumba, must be relocated immediately and a permanent settlement found outside the plain. Resources must also be made available to set up the relocation sites, an appeal must be made for national solidarity to provide food for the victims, public infrastructure such as schools and hospitals must also be relocated, cesspools must be installed in all the plots that have been developed, the port of Bujumbura must continue to be secured to minimize the damage, a committee must be set up to assess the economic losses and other damage, and the situation must be monitored. The ministers responsible for the Interior, Infrastructure, Public Health, the Environment, National Solidarity and National Defence were appointed for that purpose.
During that Cabinet meeting, the national strategy document for the sustainable socio-economic reintegration of disaster victims in Burundi and the inclusion of the Batwa was adopted. It was presented by the Minister for National Solidarity, Social Affairs, Human Rights and Gender, Imelde Sabushimike.
The national strategy for the socio-economic reintegration of disaster victims and the inclusion of the Batwa 2023-2027 was drawn up on the basis of the results of the evaluation of the previous strategy 2017-2021. The latter had identified a number of shortcomings, in particular the lack of funding and of a clear monitoring and evaluation system, but also the fact that in reality the interventions of the various players were much more focused on humanitarian issues than on the sustainable reintegration of disaster victims.
The revised strategy has therefore taken into account not only the recommendations made during the evaluation, but also the achievements and lessons learned throughout the implementation of the previous strategy, as well as the results of the analysis of the factors that had hindered the achievement of the initial objectives. The estimated cost of implementation is 71,942,000,000 BIF over 5 years. At the end of the analysis, the document was adopted with a few observations of substance and form.