Commission to finance food aid for armed group in Burundi

To contribute to the stabilisation of a fragile peace process in Burundi, the European Commission has decided today to release food aid worth 500.000 EUR as an exceptional measure to alleviate the conditions of members of the CNDD-FDD movement, an armed group to be demobilised shortly. Poul Nielson, Commissioner for Development and humanitarian assistance says, "Europe has been instrumental in establishing the peace agreement and in shaping the subsequent development strategy. It is now important to fill the gap so as to avoid that arms of few thousand hungry men do not lead to violence and retribution, which risk jeopardising the peace process. Europe has to be present in this delicate and transitional phase."

Following the signature of a cease-fire agreement between the Government of Burundi and the CNDD-FDD armed group on 2nd December 2002, thousands of CNDD-FDD combatants are currently quartered in the Kibira national park in Bubanza province in Northern Burundi. Since they have agreed to lay down their arms, the physical conditions in which the former rebels are living have deteriorated sharply and they are in urgent need of food, clothing and shelter.

The cease-fire agreement, which enters into force on 30 December, foresees that the combatants will be grouped in camps, demobilised and eventually reintegrated into society, mainly in the framework of the Multi-country Demobilization and Reintegration Program (MDRP) a regional initiative by the World Bank for the Great Lakes region to which the European Commission has already contributed 20 Million EUR.

In the meantime, the fact that the combatants are still armed poses a serious risk to the overall security situation in the country. In order to counter this risk, and to contribute to the objectives of the cease-fire, the European Commission has decided to release 500,000 EUROs worth of food aid to cover the needs of 14 000 combatants for one month. The aid will be channelled through the World Food Programme (WFP) and will be distributed by the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) which has the necessary logistics in the country.

It is hoped that other donors will contribute additional aid to cover remaining needs such as shelter and clothing.

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