Burundi

Little known in the English-speaking world, Burundi is Rwanda's twin, a small Central African country with a complex history of ethnic tension between its Hutu and Tutsi populations that has itself experienced traumatic events, including mass killings of over 200,000 people. The country remained in a state of simmering civil war until 2004, after which Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela took turns as mediators in a lengthy, and eventually successful, peace process which has endowed Burundi with new institutions, including a new constitution, that led to the election of a majority Hutu government in 2005. But there are many problems still to solve apart from ethnic tensions, above all the entrenched poverty of most Burundians, which has seen it designated by NGOs as one of the most deprived countries on earth. Nigel Watt's book discusses the troubled political fortunes of this beautiful, yet disturbed country in the heart of Central Africa. He traces the origins of its political crises, sheds light on Burundi's recent history by means of interviews with leading participants and those whose lives have been affected by horrific events, and helps demystify the country's ethnic divisions.

Burundi has recently emerged from twelve years of devastating civil war. Its economy has been destroyed and hundreds and thousands of people have been killed. In this book, the voices of ordinary Burundians are heard for the first time. Farmers, artisans, traders, mothers, soldiers and students talk about the past and the future, war and peace, their hopes for a better life and their relationships with each other and the state. Young men, in particular, often seen as the cause of violence and war, talk about the difficulties of living up to standards of masculinity in an impoverished and war-torn society. Weaving a rich tapestry, Peter Uvin pitches the ideas and aspirations of people on the ground against the theory and assumptions often made by the international development and peace-building agencies and organisations. In doing this, he illuminates both shared goals and misunderstandings. This groundbreaking book on conflict and society in Africa will have profound repercussions for development across the world.

A runaway bestseller in Sweden, The Princess of Burundi introduces Inspector Ann Lindell to U.S. mystery readers. When a jogger finds a dead body in the snow, the members of Sweden's Uppsala police force uncover a victim with an unsettling history. John Jonsson, known to everyone as Little John, was a respectable family man and a local expert on tropical fish. But he had been quite a troublemaker, and his delinquent past seems to have caught up with him. Despite being on maternity leave, Inspector Ann Lindell is determined to find John's murderer. The cruel cat-and-mouse game that follows leads Ann to a deadly confrontation with a treacherous killer. Ann must decide whether to take a huge risk that could result in many more dead bodies in the snow, including hers and that of her unborn child. Written by one of Sweden's bestselling crime writers, The Princess of Burundi is an outstanding American debut.

"Burundi has made tremendous progress over the past few years, including: the approval of the new Constitution in 2005, emphasizing the principles of power sharing and local development; the successful management of two rounds of democratic elections in 2005 and 2010’; and the creation of stable macroeconomic environment, which encouraged rebuilding of core public sector institutions. Despite these achievements, the report notes that economic growth remains weak and GSP rates are below expectations. Burundi is therefore vulnerable to different sources of risks conspiring to create a ‘fragility trap’ into which the economy can fall. Chief amongst them are: (i) food price volatility linked to international markets and climatic conditions: (ii) oil prices that affect the import bill of the country; (iii) high level of dependency on aid inflows; (iv) low budget execution capacity, coupled with weak state effectiveness and under-performing public institutions; (v) constraints on productive activity and a highly concentrated export profile; and (vi) enduring risks of political and social instability linked to the return of refugees and its impact on land conflicts and security threats. In this context, the main objectives of this Public Expenditure Review is to assist the Government in its efforts to escape fragility by focusing on two important and complementary themes: (i) creating adequate fiscal space to reduce the impact of future shocks; and (ii) using the available fiscal space to improve public expenditure management and promote government effectiveness. Building on these topics, the report emphasizes six key messages : (i) Burundi has a narrow fiscal space given the structure of its public expenditures, composed mainly of salaries and transfers; (ii) the country should mobilize additional domestic revenues to increase its fiscal space; (iii) the role of donors in supporting effective management of public expenditures remain critical and can also be the source of additional fiscal stress, especially when budget support arrives late in a fiscal year; (iv) accessing high quality budget data remains a challenge due to major incoherencies between data from the Treasury database and data published by SIGEFI; (v) the aid management is not properly integrated into budget execution process; (vi) it is advisable to adopt realistic and pragmatic solutions to improve the performance of the public administration, while keeping the wage bill under control. "

Burundi, a small landlocked country located in East Africa, has a population of approximately 12 million people. The country is bordered by Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Burundi, which gained independence from Belgium in 1962, is known for its political instability, poverty, and ethnic conflict. The country has experienced several coups and attempted coups since gaining independence, with the most recent one occurring in 2015. Burundi is also known for its civil war, which lasted from 1993 to 2005 and claimed the lives of approximately 300,000 people. Despite these challenges, Burundi remains home to several ethnic groups, including the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa people, and has a rich cultural heritage. Burundi is primarily an agricultural economy, with coffee and tea being the main exports. However, the country also has significant deposits of nickel, cobalt, and uranium. Burundi has a relatively young population, with over half of its inhabitants being under the age of 25. The country has made significant progress in improving its healthcare and education systems, with a particularly strong focus on increasing access for girls and women. The government has also implemented policies aimed at reducing poverty and promoting economic development. Despite these efforts, Burundi remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with the majority of the population living below the poverty line.