SA, SWITZERLAND TO HELP BURUNDI WOMEN, CHILD SOLDIERS
By Thabo Mokgola

February 20, 2004—(BuaNews - Pretoria) Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma says South Africa and Switzerland are planning an extensive cooperation in the social integration of women and child soldiers in the war-strife Burundi.

She was addressing the media in Pretoria yesterday after meeting with Swiss Foreign Affairs Minister Michelene Calmy-Rey.She said issues to be explored would include skills development to ensure that those rehabilitated were properly integrated into society.
Burundi has been plagued by a civil war for more than a decade, and women and child soldiers - most of them kidnapped - form a large number of rebel troops.

Dr Dlamini-Zuma said the move to assist Burundi formed part of a trilateral cooperation between South Africa, Switzerland and a third country.

"We think conflict resolution should go beyond stopping the guns firing, people must have hope of development and a better life than the one they had during war," she explained.

She said the main objective of the programme was to ensure that those involved in the conflict were able to rebuild normal lives.

Furthermore, ministers Dlamini-Zuma and Calmy-Rey signed a declaration on Joint Action on the Promotion of Women's Rights aimed at advancing the well being and rights of women.

"We are deeply concerned about continued violence, discrimination, sexual exploitation and marginalisation of women and reiterate our commitment to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls as set out in the Beijing Declaration Platform of action of 1995," read the declaration.

From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200402200424.html