Annex IV

Report of Committee IV
Chapter II

Reconstruction

2.1 Introduction

2.1.1 Definition of reconstruction

Broadly speaking, reconstruction is described as restoration of the living conditions of the population to their best previous level. In other words, reconstruction means the whole range of activities to be conducted in order to attain the highest, and hence the most significant, socio-economic indicators achieved in the past.

2.1.2 Basic principles of reconstruction

With respect to reconstruction, a number of basic principles can be cited:

Logically, only that which has been destroyed can be rebuilt, but everything cannot be rebuilt in the same way, or at the same time, for various reasons which include improving the quality of living conditions, the priorities set in the light of the urgency of the needs and the magnitude of available resources.

Generally speaking, reconstruction measures are short-term measures, but they need to be taken or decided upon with a view to preparing for reconciliation among the various categories of the population and for medium- and long-term development. Thus reconstruction implies an overall approach incorporating rehabilitation, peace-building, promotion of human rights and freedoms, economic growth and long-term development.

The reconstruction programme must be conducted and carried out in accordance with a realistic timetable that essentially takes account of local capacities and external inputs of human, material and financial resources.

The programme must be designed with a view to equity so that all categories of the population may benefit from it.

From the perspective of sustainable and permanent reconstruction, the Government and all of the political actors must do everything possible to prevent destruction for whatever motive.

2.1.3 The different aspects of reconstruction

The most important aspects relate to physical reconstruction and political reconstruction:

1. Physical reconstruction means all measures capable of facilitating the return of refugees and sinistrés. These measures also relate to reconstruction of destroyed physical capital. They must simultaneously benefit all of these people and the administrative bodies involved in this process;
   
   
2. Moral and political reconstruction means all measures designed to promote national reconciliation.

2.2 Inventory of infrastructure

The crisis and the war in Burundi led to much loss of human life and much destruction of public and private infrastructures as well as of individual property.

Existing sources of statistics on the destruction are not always in agreement. An accurate tally of all the destruction caused by the crisis must therefore be drawn up.

2.2.1 Housing

According to the Ministry for the Reinsertion and Resettlement of Displaced Persons and Returnees (MRRDR), 90,648 families were homeless prior to September 1999, to which must be added an as yet undetermined number of regrouped persons since that month. Account will also have to be taken of the future returnees who will be homeless.

In 1997 and 1998, some 17,794 houses were rebuilt by the implementing partners, while between 1997 and June 1999, 16,633 houses were rebuilt by the Government. The exact number of houses built by the Government since July 1999 and by the partners since January 1999 is not known, but it is estimated at 35,000 to 40,000.

The MRRDR's projections place the number of houses to be rebuilt at 20,000 in 2000, 40,000 in 2001 and 20,000 in 2002, a total of 80,000. which is still below real needs. Of this total, the Government could bear the cost of 23,200 houses, while a further 56,800 would have to be rebuilt by the partners. On the other hand, in November 1999 the Ministry of Development Planning and Reconstruction estimated the number of houses destroyed at more than 120,000. If the expected number of returnee and other sinistré families is taken into account, the number of houses to be rebuilt may even be as high as 150,000 to 200,000.

The cost of the materials required to build a modest house, including 30 metal sheets per household, nails and woodwork, amounts to about BuF 250,000 (Burundi Francs) The total cost of all the houses to be built needs to be assessed.

There are other houses that are not included in these statistics, owing to the persistence of fighting in certain areas which is causing further destruction. This makes it difficult to give an exact number of houses to be rebuilt.

2.2.2 Water supply systems

In the area of water supply, some 60 water supply systems and 56 standpipes were destroyed as of 1998. According to the MRRDR, a few standpipes and 48 water supply systems have been repaired.

According to the same Ministry, BuF 991.5 million would be needed in 1999 for reconstruction programmes in the water supply and sanitation sector.

In February 2000, UNICEF estimated that 15 per cent of the entire water supply infrastructure had been destroyed, and that a total of 50 per cent of all management and maintenance facilities in the sector were not operational on account of the war.

2.2.3 Health facilities

In November 1999 the Government estimated that 75 hospitals and health centres had been destroyed. Some 62 of them have been rebuilt, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

In addition to the destruction of facilities, medicines were looted, and some health care personnel have died or gone into exile. Thus reconstruction will also involve equipment, medicine and health-care personnel.

2.2.4 Educational facilities

With regard to school infrastructure, the Government reckoned that 233 schools had been destroyed as of 1998; of those, it had already rebuilt 114.

Although many of the schools had been rebuilt, UNICEF estimated that more than 500 primary schools were not operational and that 10 per cent of secondary schools had not opened their doors during that school year.

It is not enough to rebuild schools, since the crisis has left many teachers dead or in exile. More than 2,000 unqualified teachers have had to be recruited and trained on the job, and some pupils in compulsory civics classes have been pressed into service to deal with this crisis.

According to a 1998 UNICEF estimate, the cost of rehabilitating the education sector as a whole will be $US 12.5 million. Obviously, a major effort will be needed to bring the crude enrolment rate back to pre-crisis levels, let alone exceed them.

2.2.5 Other physical destruction

The crisis also entailed the destruction of much more property: shops and their inventory, equipment belonging to small and medium-sized enterprises, vehicles and homes, especially in Bujumbura and the secondary urban centres.

2.3 The essential conditions for reconstruction

For reconstruction programmes to succeed, the following conditions are essential:

1. Halting the war;
   
   
2. A successful outcome of the peace process;
   
   
3. A valid democratization process;
   
   
4. Commitment on the part of the Burundian population and support from the international community.

2.3.1 Security

Security for all in Burundi is of vital importance in that it gives the population confidence and contributes to the normalization of daily life. An effective decrease in, or better a total disappearance of, violence and a permanent cease-fire are required in order to guarantee the effective security of the population. Accordingly, all the parties to the Burundi conflict should declare and respect a definitive cessation of hostilities. This would make it possible to build without fear of further destruction.

2.3.2 A successful outcome of the peace process

The culmination of the peace process in general, and the Arusha negotiations in particular, and the establishment of a transition Government and other transitional institutions that will follow will have a vital and decisive influence on the reconstruction of Burundi.

2.3.3 A valid democratization process

Democratization constitutes one of the prerequisites for material and political reconstruction programmes. It is also one of the important accompanying measures for any equitable and sustainable development of the country in the short, medium and long term.

It is indeed important that reconstruction, both physical and political, should be conducted by authorities that inspire confidence. This will permit reconstruction with the hope that there will no longer be further destruction, and hence will encourage investment.

2.3.4 Commitment on the part of the Burundian population and support from the international community

The reconstruction of Burundi must be supported from inside and outside the country. Mobilization of the Burundian people and support from the international community are essential in order to assemble the human, material and financial resources required for the reconstruction programmes. In order to reassure donors, it will ultimately be important to provide guarantees of good and equitable management of funds and their effective allocation for reconstruction activities.

2.4 Physical reconstruction

Physical reconstruction has to do with the physical rebuilding of destroyed property. Burundi undertakes to finance this reconstruction with the aid of the international community. This exercise should be carried out transparently and equitably, in accordance with the following guidelines:

1. Account shall be taken both of those who are being resettled or reintegrated and of those who are receiving them;
   
   
2. Imbalances relating to public infrastructures, especially schools, should be corrected;
   
   
3. Problems relating to the repayment of loans that some Burundians have borrowed from banks and financial institutions and for which the object financed has been destroyed must be solved. With the banks and financial institutions, the Government will look into the possibilities of reducing or eliminating interest payments or subsidizing interest rates as well as extending repayment periods for any persons in this situation;
   
   
4. Infrastructures must be reconstructed and sound management of those rebuilt must be ensured. In the area of water supply, for instance, it will not be enough simply to rebuild the infrastructures; methods for their effective management and maintenance shall also be indicated;
   
   
5. Human capital shall be considered an essential element of reconstruction;
   
   
6. An environment conducive to reconstruction and the resumption of production activities shall be created and the macro- and micro-economic framework shall be improved. For example, the foreign exchange needed to import goods for reconstruction should be allocated and fiscal measures should be taken to help businesses whose property was destroyed resume their activities;
   
   
7. The intervention capacity of the communes shall be enhanced;
   
   
8. National solidarity: the cost of reconstruction is very high and the State shall invoke national solidarity by setting up a reconstruction fund whose resources will come from contributions from all economic agents.

2.5 Political reconstruction

Physical reconstruction and political reconstruction must go hand in hand. Political reconstruction is aimed at making national reconciliation and peaceful coexistence possible. Many things must be done for national reconciliation to be successful. All the measures to be taken, however, should be directed towards the establishment of the rule of law, which will foster national reconciliation.

To ensure the success of political reconstruction, which seeks to bring about national reconciliation, measures must be taken to establish the rule of law in Burundi: reform of the judiciary, advancement of women, democratization of institutions and support for parliament, civil society, the independent media and political parties.

2.5.1 National reconciliation

2.5.1.1 Reasons for reconciliation

Burundi is going through a politico-ethnic conflict which has lasted for over 30 years. Throughout this entire period, Burundians have experienced deep-seated divisions that have prevented them from prospering, thus making their future and that of their children uncertain. Today, all Burundians must regret this situation. They seek to rebuild a country which offers more opportunities for a better life for their children. It is to this end that measures should be taken to eliminate tensions, improve the political climate and create a political and legal environment which provides a new basis for understanding among the various groups in the population.

2.5.1.2 A national reconciliation programme

In the context of the peace agreement, all the parties to the conflict undertake to launch a multi-faceted programme of national reconciliation.

The programme will consist of the following actions:

1. The Government will issue a declaration of national reconciliation which places emphasis on human rights and freedoms and on measures to combat impunity;
   
   
2. The Government will undertake to ensure the moral rehabilitation of all conflict victims. Accordingly, it will erect a national monument commemorating all victims of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity which will bear the words "Never Again";
   
   
3. Mutual self-help and teamwork will be promoted under the housing reconstruction programme and other economic and social development activities;
   
   
4. A historical study that will lead to a common interpretation of Burundi's history will be undertaken. The researchers will have access to both the written and the audio-visual materials in the national archives;
   
   
5. A centre for conflict observation, prevention and resolution will be established at the national and regional levels;
   
   
6. The creation of political and ethnic ghettos is to be avoided. Accordingly, meetings must be organized among the various groups of the population so that they may learn to live together again;
   
   
7. Examples of people who have contributed significantly to reconciliation activities will be disseminated;
   
   
8. Special programmes will be set up for the psychological care of children, especially orphans, to help them overcome the trauma caused by the conflict;
   
   
9. Peace and reconciliation committees will be established.

2.5.1.3 Promotion of human rights and freedoms

1. Human rights and freedoms, particularly the right to life, should be taught. Political leaders and government officials will also benefit from this programme.
   
   
2. Committees for the promotion and defence of human rights and freedoms should be established in the civil service, parastatal bodies, the private sector and in the collines.

2.5.1.4 Education for a culture of peace

1. A nation-wide awareness-raising campaign should be conducted to help the various groups in the population live together again in peace.
   
   
2. Political and administrative leaders and economic agents should receive training in the peaceful settlement of disputes.
   
   
3. Education in the culture of peace should be included in school curricula, and the notions of democracy and the human rights and freedoms should be introduced.

2.5.2 The role of women in reconstruction

2.5.2.1 Why the advancement of women?

Burundian women have suffered greatly from the various crises that have taken place in the country from independence to the present. Thousands of women have been widowed and traumatized. Their property has been looted and their children, have dropped out of school. Fearing for their lives, some of their husbands have fled the country, abandoning them with little or no means of survival. Over half of the refugees and sinistrés are women and children for whom the future looks bleak. This situation has had dire consequences for the lives of children: some have become orphans, vagrants and street children. Their quality of life has deteriorated considerably.

2.5.2.2 Tangible actions for the advancement of women

In order to support and promote the advancement of women, taking into consideration the difficulties they have been through and continue to experience, the following actions are necessary:

1. Women must be included in all management bodies established as part of the reconstruction process. These include committees for the rehabilitation, resettlement and reintegration of sinistrés, aid distribution committees at all levels, etc.;
   
   
2. Women must be made aware of national reconciliation activities and must be mobilized to take part in them. Women must be promoted as peace mediators;
   
   
3. Meetings between women in Burundi and women of the diaspora should be held so that they can exchange ideas about their respective problems and the future of the country;
   
   
4. Women and children who find themselves in the special position of heads of household must be taken into account. The entitlements of those widowed and orphaned by Burundi's various crises must be restored;
   
   
5. A body should be established to identify women's problems in the context of the Burundian crisis and suggest appropriate solutions to the Government;
   
   
6. Legislation on women's inheritance rights must be drafted, adopted and promulgated;
   
   
7. Destroyed homes must be rebuilt for homeless women;
   
   
8. Help should be provided to women to engage in income-generating activities;
   
   
9. Counselling, training and assistance with reintegration should be provided to girls and women who have been subjected to sexual abuse and forced marriages during and after the crisis.

2.5.3 The justice system

To make the Burundian justice system sufficiently operational and equitable, the following measures should be taken:

1. Voluntary correction of ethnic imbalances existing among justice system personnel;
   
   
2. System-wide institutional capacity-building;
   
   
3. Training, on and off the job, for justice system employees;
   
   
4. Measures to combat corruption;
   
   
5. Improvement of the working conditions of magistrates and better logistical support (vehicles and equipment for courts and tribunals);
   
   
6. Translation and dissemination of legislative texts in Kirundi so as to make them accessible and comprehensible to the entire population;
   
   
7. Technical assistance for lawyers.

2.5.4 Democratization

2.5.4.1 Democracy as a concept

Democracy is a relatively recent concept in the vocabulary and language of the Burundian people. However, it was accepted by the Burundian people in 1991, when the referendum on the Charter of National Unity was held, and in 1992, when the Constitution was adopted.

While democracy is by definition a system of government of the people by the people, the democratic system has yet to be well understood in Burundi. In addition to elections through which institutions accepted by a popular majority are established, democracy is a whole process that provides for the establishment of institutions with checks and balances and the machinery for putting governments in office and allowing them to be replaced in their management of state affairs.

2.5.4.2 Measures in support of democratization

To ensure that Burundians understand what democracy is, the following steps shall be taken:

1. Instruction in the culture of democracy shall be provided to politicians, in schools, in military camps, in communes, etc.;
   
   
2. Codes of democratic conduct shall be developed and widely disseminated in order to spread information about democratic culture;
   
   
3. A constitution and a social plan that ensure respect for democratic principles shall be drafted;
   
   
4. Democratic principles shall be applied in the work of national institutions.

2.5.5 The National Assembly

2.5.5.1 History of the Burundian Parliament

In Burundi, the Parliament is an institution whose significance in political life is not yet sufficiently understood. The country first experimented with a parliament in the early 1960s. This institution has been suspended many times, particularly during the various coups d'état, and the country went for many years without one. Deputies or members of the National Assembly still do not comprehend the extent of their responsibilities and need to have a fuller understanding of their mission, their rights and their duties to the Burundian people.

2.5.5.2 Steps to be taken

To make the Assembly more operational and thus more valuable to Burundi and its people, the following steps must be taken:

1. Parliamentarians must be made familiar with their mission, their rights and their duties to the Burundian people. To this end, seminars, training programmes, parliamentary days and study tours should be organized so that they can learn how parliaments are organized and function in other countries and thus understand the relationship that exists in a republic between the legislative branch of government and the executive and judicial branches;
   
   
2. Members of the National Assembly should be allowed to meet with the public so that they can learn the public's views and thus uphold their interests;
   
   
3. The National Assembly should be provided with the institutional capacity and logistical resources it needs in order to carry out its mission.

2.5.6 Civil society

2.5.6.1 The status of civil society

Civil society in Burundi is not yet sufficiently organized to form a structure strong and solid enough to uphold the interests of all groups in the population. The notion of civil society is in fact a new one and is not well understood by the population, just as civil society itself does not understand its own mission.

Other organizations exist in Burundi, such as labour unions and the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Crafts. But these are bodies without enough resources to organize their members effectively or help them assume responsibility for defending their own interests.

2.5.6.2 Support for civil society

To help civil society play its role in Burundi as it does in other countries, principally by helping representative democracy take root and helping to establish a genuine State governed by the rule of law, the following support measures are indispensable:

1. Assistance to civil society so that it can thoroughly understand its role, which is to serve as a pressure group that will advocate on behalf of its members and uphold universal values;
   
   
2. The organization of seminars, training courses and study tours for members of civil society so that they can lean and understand what their critical role is in the democratic process and how they can be useful to the country;
   
   
3. Provision of adequate logistical support.

2.5.7 Independent media

2.5.7.1 The situation of the media in Burundi

The media in Burundi are not sufficiently professional. Neither the public nor the private news media are very diverse, and this is true of both the broadcast media and the press. There are in fact few private or independent radio stations and few private newspapers.

Journalists working in the Burundian media today have not fully grasped their role, since most of them comment on the news or report it with an ethnic or partisan slant.

2.5.7.2 Measures to support independent media

To diversify the media in Burundi, support or assistance must be provided to independent media as follows:

1. The Government must understand that private and independent media are an intrinsic part of good governance. It must therefore accept and even help the media, particularly during their infancy. The Government should agree to an increase in the number of independent radio and television stations and newspapers. These media should display professionalism, competence and respect for the journalistic code of ethics;
   
   
2. The role and place of the national communications advisory board in the public and private media should be redefined and strengthened;
   
   
3. Training programmes and seminars should be organized to teach journalists about their rights and duties;
   
   
4. Support should be provided to the future school of communications at the University of Burundi to promote the training of journalists.

2.5.8 Political parties

Political parties are organizations that are indispensable to good governance. They are social structures for political thought and organization. It is primarily through political parties that civic and political education takes place. Rather than being blamed them for every problem in the country and destabilized, they should be supported. They should be given government financing, in accordance with the legislation governing political parties, as is done in many democratic countries.