The Quaker Peace Network (QPN) Burundi aims to increase exchanges, experiences and mutual support amongst member organisations in order to prevent violent conflict in Burundi and further the mission of QPN Africa. This latter network was the product of global Quaker consultations initiated to address the issue of violence prevention on the continent. Its main goal is to bring together Quaker peace practitioners, with the view to improve the effectiveness of Friends’ organisations and to prevent violent conflicts in Africa by working at all levels, from the community to the international.
Major achievements
QPN Burundi has been strongly involved in the work of both the QPN Central Africa and the QPN Africa. It has provided election observation training to Rwandans and Congolese peacebuilders and coordinated the monitoring and observation of elections in Kenya, DR Congo and Burundi. Inside Burundi, the organisation has initiated and is still conducting diverse peacebuilding initiatives at grassroots level, ranging from community dialogue and mediation, trauma healing, and peace education. QPN Burundi has recently made specific contributions towards the establishment of transitional justice mechanisms in Burundi, mainly related to the mandate and structure of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In the lead up to the 2015 presidential elections, QPN Burundi has already started preparing and equipping communities with skills as a way of averting violent conflicts, before, during and after the electoral period.
Success story
In 2010, 10 local and international organisations led by QPN Burundi initiated ‘Amatora Mu Mahoro’ (English: "Peaceful Elections") to monitor democratic principles and prevent electoral violence. The organisations used a web platform to provide updates from more than 400 citizen reporters. This experience showed a strong potential of organisations, citizen reporters and analysts to objectively monitor relationships between various political and non-political actors. Between April to December 2010, 519 violent incidents (intimidation, militia clashes, property destruction and killings) and 987 peace initiatives (including civic and electoral education, peace messages, non-violent resolution and peaceful cohesion) were reported by the citizen reporters.
For the 2015 elections, QPN Burundi is working on a similar initiative, in collaboration with 30 organisations in an Early Warning Early Response Network involving 700 citizen reporters across the country.
