Since April 2015, violence burst in Burundi as the country was heading to presidential elections. It resulted in the displacement of Rumonge families to DRC, Tanzania and Zambia. In this context, children protection and social cohesion are weakened by orphans and other vulnerable children households' low incomes, discrimination against returnees and violence within schools.
On July 15th, FVS-AMADE BURUNDI “ABAGENZI B’ABANA” and PLAY INTERNATIONAL launched a project to support the protection, reintegration and social cohesion for the children in Rumonge in response to the humanitarian crisis. With funding from UNICEF, this project will last 12 months and will allow to give assistance to 5,331 orphans and other vulnerable children.
This project aims to strengthen the community resilience to the humanitarian crisis effects. Among other things, the project will strengthen the prevention-and-response system to abuse and violence against children in humanitarian situation. The project also provides an emergency shelter as well as reinstatement, family ties restoration and alternative support for orphans and other vulnerable children. In connection with the community structures such as self-help groups and the Children Rights Committees, this project will engage in the prevention of gender-based violence and the street children phenomenon.
With this project, FVS-AMADE BURUNDI and PLAY INTERNATIONAL are introducing a children’s space in each of the six areas of Rumonge, . In these spaces, a secure environment will be implemented for 6,000 children at risk. In collaboration with other community structures, children's spaces are the place for late birth registrations, identifying vulnerable children and referring them to specialized services.
