ASONGAFEH NDOBEGANG

SOWK 675 - MODULES

INTERGRATION PAPER
PEACEBUILDING, GENDER AND SOCIAL WORK ROLE.




The continent of Africa has been plagued with multiple civil wars since the end of
colonialism. It would be almost impossible to identify an African state that has not experienced
a failed coups or a full scale civil war. These conflicts have very often been followed by peace
building efforts, by local and international organizations in an attempt to identify and mitigate
against the root courses of these conflicts with the primary objective of reinstating peace and
stability. The state of Burundi is one of those countries which have experience several years of
conflict since it gained independence from Belgium in 1962. Burundi is located at the heart of
the Great Lakes region and surrounded by Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania
(Niyonkuru, 2012). Burundi has an estimated population of nine million in an area the size of
the state of Massachusetts in the U.S. and is said to be one of the continents most densely
populated and land-constrained countries (Niyonkuru, 2012). It is common knowledge that
Burundi is land lock and is one of the poorest countries in the African continent. The countrys
economy is based on subsistent agriculture, which has seen a steady decline as a result of the
many years of arm conflicts thereby forcing about 80% of the population to live below the
national poverty line (Niyonkuru, 2012). Burundi is composed of 4 ethnic groups (85% Hutu,
14% Tutsi, 1% Twa and Ganwa) (Niyonkuru, 2012). These groups have had a long history of
peaceful cohabitation, sharing the same language, same culture and governed by traditional
monarchy (Ndikumana, 2005). However, the divide and rule policy by Belgium polarized the
two dominant ethnic groups (Tutsi and Hutu), this polarization has been noted to have
contributed to the conflict in 1965, the massacres of 1972, the uprising and killings of 1988, the
rebel invasion of 1991 and the conflict that erupted in 1993, after a democratically elected Hutu
President was assassinated by Tutsi military elites, plunging the country into a 12years conflict
(Ndikumana, 2005). In 1998 a peace process was launched which resulted in a Peace and
Reconciliation Agreement in August 2000 (Niyonkuru, 2012). This led to the proliferation of civil
society and community based peace building initiatives with the primary goal to promote peace
and stability. The second part of this paper will evaluate the accomplishments of the peace
building efforts in Burundi by analyzing some of the common standards of success in peace
building. I will then use a gender analysis framework to critically examine the situation from a
gender perspective and finally promulgate a social work response to the Burundi situation.
When assessing the degree of success in a peace building effort, four common standards
of success are examined. These standards of success are: no war recurrence; state
institutionalization; root causes of the conflicts addressed and economic recovery. To better
assess it is crucial to first of all identify some of the major causes of the conflict in Burundi. The
conflicts in our Burundi case study were caused by the following. Most important is ethnic
grievances between the two major ethnic groups (Tutsis and Hutus), grievances which was
sparked and aggravated by the divide and rule policy of the Belgian colonial masters. Here the
Belgians used the Tutsi to rule and oppress the Hutu and when they found that the Tutsi were
anti colonialist they tried integrating the Hutu in administration and using them to suppress the
Tutsi (Ndikumana, 2005). This factor has been a major cause in the rise of conflicts in Burundi.
Again, economic and political inequality was also noted to be a major factor for the fighting. For
instance in 1972, under the first military regime (Tutsi leadership) there was a systematic
elimination of political, military, intellectuals and peasant Hutu, an attempt to tip political
power in favor of the Tutsi (Niyonkuru, 2012). Again, in 1993 when a Hutu president was
democratically elected, power shifted to the Hutu and the Tutsi felt threatened leading to the
assassination of a Hutu president at a time were the Hutu felt it was their time to be in power.
This assassination resulted in a 12 year war (Ndikumana, 2005). Other causes were wide spread
poverty and greed.
Haven established the root causes of the conflict, it is important to analyze applicable
components of the common standards for measuring success in peace building. The first
standard is no recurrence of war. In order to hold that peace building efforts have been
successful it has to be seen that there has not been the recurrence of fighting after the peace
building initiative was initiated. In this case it has to be established that there has been
insignificant or no fighting since the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement was reached in August
2000. Before august 2000, Burundi had experienced repeated fighting (recurrence) in 1965,
1972, 1988, 1991 and 1993, but since then existing literature has indicated little or no fighting
in the country. Therefor there is order and stability, paramount values which have been
reinforced by peace committees as they have been instrumental in fostering trust within
communities, healing the hurts of the past and rebuilding community cohesion. These
committees have also helped to mitigate conflict and prevent further violence. Because there
has not been the recurrence of wars since 2000 it is fair to hold that the peace building strategy
has been successful.
The second standard of success worth examining is the identification and eradication of
root causes. Some of the rout courses we identified were economic and political inequality,
ethnic grievances, poverty and greed. Thus to judge the degree of success one would need to
prove that the root causes of these conflicts have been eradicated so as to reduce the chances
of further conflicts. These root causes can be addressed by implementing economic policies and
reforms directed towards achieving equity in access to power and resources (Ndikumana,
2005). In an attempt to eradicate political inequality a 36 months power sharing agreement
was reached with Tutsi leader Pierre Buyoyo and Hutu leader Domitien Ndayizeye both having
18 months term of leadership of the country (Niyonkuru, 2012). Furthermore, there was
agreement for equal representation by the two ethnic groups in defence and security sector,
with the Hutu assured at least 60% of share with 40% for the Tutsi (Niyonkuru, 2012). The
accomplishments in this domain have gone a long way to ensure peace and stability in Burundi
therefore indicating that the peace building effort has been successful.
Despite the positive strides in peace building, it is important to note that Burundis peace is
somewhat fragile as a result of widespread impunity for mass human rights violations; limited
access to the judicial system by Burundians; extensive land disputes due to hundreds of
thousands of returning refugees; poorly planned and executed disarmament, Demobilization
and reintegration etc. (Nibigira, C & Scanlon, H., 2010).
It is evident that different genders (male and female) with experience wars and the
transition to peace differently. This is as a result of the difference in the activities and roles
played by them during this time. In times of war men are mostly engaged in the fight and
involved in negotiations for peace, reason why the Arusha Accords specifically called for the
inclusion of women in the transitional justice mechanism (Nibigira, C & Scanlon, H., 2010).
Nonetheless, women are usually the victims who in addition to being subject to sexual based
violence, suffered displacement, subjected to economic deprivation and face numerous socio-
cultural and legal challenges. Women in Burundi have also been noted to be the most affected
by poverty in a country ranked 171th of 175 poorest countries and women continue to have
limited access to national resources and income which greatly impairs their ability to access
education and healthcare (Nibigira, C & Scanlon, H., 2010). Nevertheless, the numerous wars
and the resulting Peace and Reconciliation Agreement in August 2000, has initiated a number of
changes in the gender role particularly for the engagement, emancipation and empowerment
of women. Firstly, women have been guaranteed representation in the government. The call
for greater womens involvement in politics was made in 2000 by the Arusha Accord and
accomplished in the 2005 Constitution which established a 30% quota for womens
representatives in government, parliament and the senate (Nibigira, C & Scanlon, H., 2010). In
the 2005 elections 36 of the 118 parliamentarians were women, 7 of the 20 ministers including
the second vice president were women. The speaker of the National Assembly and two vice
presidents of the senate were women (Nibigira, C & Scanlon, H., 2010). Again in 1997 military
service was established for women (Nibigira, C & Scanlon, H., 2010).
Furthermore, women were granted the right to own property, land and inheritance. They also
had the right to benefit from reparations, such the provision of care for the physical and mental
health of victims, education support for orphans, reparations for families caring for children
born of rape and forced pregnancy (Nibigira, C & Scanlon, H., 2010).
Finally, women were given greater voice in expressing their experiences, concerns and
participating in matters and decisions that affect them.
From the forgoing it is important to identify the role that I can play as social work
professional during and post conflicts in our Burundi case study. The conflict in Burundi has
resulted in what has been termed by most as one of the worst population displacement crises
in the world. As a social worker in these camps I can be involved in the traditional social work
role of providing displaced people with psychosocial intervention like helping clients cope with
traumatic stress, mobilizing resources for the disadvantaged and vulnerable population,
enhancing well-being and meeting basic human needs. Because of the evidence of sexual abuse
cases, social workers can organize for sexual and reproductive health services, providing support and
medical care for injuries and diseases associated with sexual and gender-based violence (Rees, Pittaway
& Bartolomei, 2005). These displaced populations can be empowered by social workers to build
social capital and community mobilization in order to have their voice in decisions that would
influence their lives.
In conclusion it is worth emphasizing the importance of utilizing a gender perspective in
peace building. It is equally important to note that social workers are indispensable in the
development business.





References
Ndikumana, L., (2005). Distributional conflict, the state, and peacebuilding in Burundi. Political
Economy Research Institute. University of Massachustts Amherst. Working paper series, No 105.
Retrieved from: http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/ndiku
Nibigira, C. & Scanlon, H., (2010). Gender, Peace and Security: The Challenges Facing
Transitional Justice Processes in Burundi. International Centre for Transitional Justice.
Retrieved from: http://www.initiativeforpeacebuilding.eu/pdf/1008burundi.pdf
Niyonkuru, R. C., (2012). Building the Peace architecture from the Bottom-up: the experience of
local Peace committees in Burundi. Future Generations Graduate School. Occasional Paper:
Peace Building Series No. 5.
Retrieved from: http://www.future.org/sites/future.org/files/Burundi
Rees, S., E. Pittaway and L. Bartolomei (2005) Waves of Violence: Women in Post- Tsunami Sri
Lanka, Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies. Available online at:
http://www.massey.ac.nz/ trauma/issues/2005-2/rees.htm.