The Women's Peace Center in Burundi
In January 1996, the Center for Women was opened in Bujumbura, Burundi. The Center exists to train Hutu and Tutsi women in conflict resolution skills, and is organized by the US-based Search for Common Ground (SCG) initiative, which has almost 15 years of experience in bringing people together around common concern in order to overcome divisions that lead to violent conflict. The Center opened after SCG convened a mid-1995 conference for local women's groups on their role in conflict resolution, and a subsequent study tour to South Africa.
As a result of sustained conflict, women are now the majority of Burundi's population. As the number of female-headed households increases, women's roles have expanded to include those traditionally played by men, and an increased role in rebuilding their communities. In order for healing to occur in Burundi, women must be included as key players in the process of ethnic reconciliation, and must be given the appropriate tools.
Approximately 200 women visit the Center each week. It is one of the few places where Hutu and Tutsi women can meet openly, and women's groups from around Burundi use it as a meeting venue. Both Hutu and Tutsi women in Burundi share a common concern for health, education, and legal rights.
The Center is establishing a cadre of women trainers trained in conflict resolution techniques; providing a forum for Hutu and Tutsi women to meet to work toward common goals; providing training on gender issues and support for local women's groups and women in camps for the displaced; and organizing roundtables to promote collaboration among the various women's groups.
In cooperation with International Alert (IA) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), SCG sponsored a training for trainers workshop in conflict resolution. Twenty-six women from five different provinces (Kraut, Musing, Rutana, Ruyigi and Bujumbura) were trained in mediators techniques and m ways to popularize the role women can play in ethnic reconciliation. The women developed an agenda for action, which included such items as providing conflict resolution training in their own provinces, or serving as mediators in disputes. Since June, IA, SCG and UNIFEM, with the help of the Burundian co-trainers, have been making follow-up visits to participants, to support them as they utilize their new skills and to provide additional training when needed.
To help women empower themselves, the Center hosts weekly roundtable discussions. Topics and speakers are chosen by the participants on themes fostering dialogue between Hutu and Tutsi women, thus helping to create a culture of reconciliation. Some past themes include: the role women in educating their families; the role women in the peaceful resolution of the Burundian, crisis; the legal code for women and families; women's inheritance laws; and women and foreign aid.
At the end of each roundtable participants create an action plan they can take collectively or individuals to address the issues discussed. Participants also fill out evaluation forms, and often comment that participating in these roundtable discussions is the first time that they have exchanged information and ideas on such topics. Unanimously, women have requested an increase in the number of roundtable sessions the Center hosts.
SUPPORT FOR WOMEN'S GROUPS OUTSIDE BUJUMBURA
While security conditions make it difficult to reach the Interior of the country, the Center does work though a network of women in the various provinces. In all four provinces outside of the capital in which the Center implements projects, successful activities such as marches, gatherings, and roundtables have been led by women trained as trainers through the Center's workshops.
The Center also supports initiatives which reach out to women who live in refugee camps. The Center formed the Bujumbura Women's Group, which has brought women in the camps together for dialogue with women who have remained in their homes. This dialogue between estranged former neighbors is a first step towards building trust and returning people to their communities.
It was significant that when Burundi's newly appointed Minister of Human Rights, Social Action, and the Promotion of Women, Minister Christine Ruhaza, held her first meeting with women's groups, she chose the Center as the venue. In Bujumbura, even governmental quarters are not amenable to inter-ethnic cooperation between women.
The Center has been a site for high level gatherings of Burundian women. Prior to the coup, at a time when the President and the Prime Minister were not on speaking terms, the First the Prime Minister's two former fist ladies, as many other highwomen gathered at the to exchange ideas in neutral territory Convened by the Network of Women for Peace and Non-Violence, these women gathered at the Center, week after week, searching for ways in which Hutu and Tutsi women could cooperate. The Center is currently working with several women to try to reinstate a similar initiative, with new women players.
Contact:
Rebecca Jennings,
Search for Common Ground,
1601 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 200,
Washington, DC 20009, USA.
Tel + 1 202 265 4300;
fax +1 202 232 6718;
email: searchg@igc.apc.org
AFRICANEWS