A report on SOLIDARITÉS' experience in Cankuzo (written in 2005 by Olivier JOUZEAU, in charge of SOLIDARITÉS Hydraulic programmes in this province.)

Following the Pretoria peace agreements signed in November 2003, Burundi has undergone an emergency-rehabilitation transition phase, which ended after the electoral process in September 2005. The country now has democratically elected institutions. After a ten-year crisis, 70% of the Burundian populations suffer from extreme poverty, but in a context that tends to become more stable.

Burundians are ready to construct their development but, along with their international partners, they face a number of challenges. The bases that will enable the country to finally overcome insecurity and – in the long run – poverty, are being built today.

Since 1996, SOLIDARITÉS participates in the country's development by implementing water and sanitation, food safety and housing programmes. Our on-site team currently comprises 10 expatriate volunteers and 100 Burundians.

Who manages water in Burundi?
The DGHER (National Office for Hydraulics and Rural Energies) operates under the authority of the Burundian National Planning Ministry since the establishment of the new government. The DGHER is in charge of drinking water systems, and water springs developed in rural environments. In broader terms, it manages public hydraulic and electrical infrastructures; it also operates as an engineering and construction department.

Communal Water Authorities ("RCEs")
To operate, maintain and manage hydraulic infrastructure facilities, each municipal district has a "Communal Authority", which enjoys financial autonomy. The Communal Water Authority is an associative entity: it is managed by the water users themselves. It comprises all the committees and institutions that manage the hydraulic capital in a given municipal district (Water Point and Sanitation Committees, Water Users General Assembly, Municipal Users Committee, Municipal Water and Sanitation Service...). As a reminder, let us recall that the provincial coordinators of the Communal Water Authorities operate under the authority of the DGHER.
RCE structures were created in 1992, when the State decided to establish an autonomous budget for the management of water networks and springs. For water users this was a revolution of a kind, since previously there was only a municipal tax raised on markets; people were not used to paying a water-point maintenance fee.

On the other hand, this system swiftly declined at the beginning of the crisis, in 1993. Ten years later, some RCEs only exist in theory; their members (chairmen, treasurers) are not trained to exercise their responsibilities; the population, weary of the war and of excessive corruption, does not trust the authorities and does not necessarily accept the separation between municipal and RCE budgets.

SOLIDARITÉS' action in Cankuzo, or how to adjust to an evolving context...
The province of Cankuzo was particularly affected in 2000 by the fighting and the strong insecurity prevailing near the Tanzanian border. Established since 2003 in the region, SOLIDARITÉS aids vulnerable populations affected by the crisis, regardless of whether they are displaced, repatriated persons, or live in isolated rural environments. Whatever their origins, their sanitary situation is critical: there is a lack of drinking water or sanitation infrastructures, and hygiene behaviours are inadequate.

To improve the situation, SOLIDARITÉS implements and rehabilitates drinking water adduction systems, develops springs, builds and empties collective latrine units. This technical component is complemented by sensitising beneficiaries (hygiene and proper maintenance of facilities) and by supporting the entities in charge of managing them.
With the support of the General Management of ECHO (Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission), UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) and the HCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees), SOLIDARITÉS was able to aid over 62,000 persons in the province since 2003, i.e., approximately one-third of its population. Furthermore, SOLIDARITÉS develops food safety and rehabilitation programmes in other provinces (Muramvya, Bururi, Bujumbura Rural, Mwaro).

Summary of SOLIDARITES' operations in the province of Cankuzo

SOLIDARITÉS' emergency action in displaced persons sites, initially designed to cope with the situation of refugees returning from Tanzania, gradually evolved into operations targeting sedentarised rural populations, which enable the Association to initiate a long-term thought process. As security is restored in an increasingly stable context, SOLIDARITÉS has been able to focus on sustainibilising the facilities it has set up. This includes:

A necessary evolution in the practices of international actors
In Burundi, financial backers as well as NGOs are currently operating in a transitional context. The challenge for them is take part in more sustainable actions, while preserving their reactivity to crisis situations that are always liable to occur. However, one should acknowledge a degree of inertia in the practices of concerned actors.

In Burundi, the main financial support still comes from emergency financers. The defined strategic operational axes remain limited to emergency contexts. The indicators are mostly quantitative and qualitative items are scarce. As the crisis situation subsides, however, it becomes necessary to enhance the impact of our actions, in terms of time more than in terms of space. To make it short: "Let's build less hydraulic infrastructures, and let's dedicate more resources to help populations and their representatives carry out the projects, all the way from identifying needs down to managing infrastructures."

In the current framework, this message is not heard and the manoeuvring space of NGOs remains narrow in terms of ensuring a good transition towards a development context. Narrow, indeed. But it does exist. NGOs must strive to help its local partners gradually acquire their autonomy. In Burundi, the time has come to turn upside down emergency approaches inherited from the crisis period. And this must take place at all levels: from the beneficiary to the different Public Service Water institutions operating in rural contexts.

This work must be done on the ground, but also with financial backers to lead them to adjust their strategies to local realities. At this level, international commitments have been reached in the framework of the United Nations Millenium Objectives. For water and sanitation, the objective is to reduce by half, by 2015, the percentage of people who do not have access to these services. 2005: a first assessment of these objectives. 2005: the entry of Burundi into development? A hope, a perspective, an action.

SOLIDARITÉS' team in Burundi currently comprises 10 expatriate volunteers and around 100 Burundians.