Q & A with Goretti Ndacayisaba, Dushirehamwe Network - Burundi

Goretti Ndacayisaba, a women’s rights and peace activist from Burundi visited New York in February and March 2007 to take part in activities around the 51st session of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women. She took time during her visit to sit and talk to the PeaceWomen Project about her work and the challenges facing women in Burundi as the country emerges from conflict.

PW: What is your reason for coming to New York?
I am here to attend the 51st Commission on the Status of Women on behalf of my organization in Burundi. I have been invited by the NGO working Group on women peace and security, based here in New York and my goal is to make the voices of women in Burundi heard by the international community and international NGOs working toward gender equality. My country is currently on the agenda of the Peacebuilding Commission so I am also taking this opportunity to find out about its mission, objectives, and how the commission plans to take into account our priorities.

PW: What in your view, were the causes of the conflict in Burundi and how were women affected?
There are many issues that led to the conflict in Burundi but poverty was a big factor. Also issues of bad governance, deprivation of human rights, ethnic, regional and other forms of exclusion, including the marginalization of women.

The conflict in Burundi led to great suffering and disruption. Many people fled the fighting, much of the population was hungry and unprotected; many children and elderly people suffered malnutrition and those who became displaced faced threats of violence including rape. Women and girls who were raped could not get legal or medical support, because many were reluctant to speak out and were traumatized. In our culture, it’s not easy to publicize rape or other sexual violations, so it’s very tough for survivors to deal with those incidents.

Even now, after the ceasefire and peace negotiations, women are still in a very vulnerable situation. They need support at an individual and collective level and I hope that the new UN Peacebuilding Commission can begin to understand and respond to the impact of conflict on women and girls.

PW: Tell us a little about the work that you do?
I work for a Network of women’s groups called Dushirehamwe, which means “Let’s Reconcile”. It started in 1996 during the conflict that divided Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups. The program was initially sponsored by UNIFEM and the NGOs International Alert and Search for Common Ground.

The three components of our programs are: to build the capacity of local communities and especially women to understand the causes of the crisis and change their opinions toward the political and ethnic issues that were the instrument of the violence, secondly to see how women’s groups can go together and focus on community reconciliation, and thirdly, to advocate for women’s participation in decision making and really push women’s priorities onto the government’s agenda.

We have tried to bring women together, to discuss what is happening, to analyze the causes and to train people in community reconciliation. We have promoted inter-ethnic income-generating activities and cultural events and worked with other organizations to organize national meetings. Since then, other programs on the ground have started. For example, we have programs for reintegration of ex-combatants, Internally displaced persons, returnees and those who remained in the villages.

Our goal is to have people define what is good for peaceful co-existence, to have them adhere to a social contract of respect, harmony and cohesion among community members.
In addition to stressing community reconciliation, we also recognize the importance of reaching those in political decision-making, as they were the most important actors in the conflict. We try to change minds on how power is shared and to develop a new basis for communicating with each other and for sharing what we have.

Our advocacy programs are aimed at supporting women participation in decision-making. Women were excluded from the peace negotiations in Arusha, until we got international support and the facilitator Nelson Mandela to adopt our cause, and as a result our representatives were able to make recommendations to the negotiation process. The peace accord that was signed was gender-sensitive, but we have had to struggle to make political parties implement it in a gender sensitive manner, including by integrating women into the decision-making in the electoral process.

In 2005, we lobbied successfully in the constitutional reform process to get a quota of 30 percent women represented in parliament, the senate, and government. We are now aiming for 50% and we also want the quota to apply to the local government level. We are pleased to have a number of women in decision-making, and we hope that it will make a difference regarding gender-sensitive legal reform, the protection of people facing crisis, and many other issues. We are encouraging the elected women to report not only to their political parties but also to women’s constituencies regarding the protection of women and children’s rights.

PW: Have any major changes resulted from having more women in decision-making?
We haven’t seen any major changes yet because power is still really concentrated in men’s hands, and women face many institutional challenges to being effective actors in government. There is lack of awareness, capacities and leadership among women in political life. Women have been tempted to blindly follow political parties; they have not made it to the central committee of the party and have yet to take the lead and participate in decision-making.

It’s time for women leaders to be more active, and dynamic, and to show that they’re there not only because of their parties, but because women have done a lot of work to advocate, to change the law, to ensure a quota in the constitution and to have their numbers in the political institutions. Women have to be actors, not just propaganda followers. But they need training and examples from what others have done. They need support from other women and we need to reinforce their capacities in leadership, and their self-esteem.

PW: Have you and your organization used Resolution 1325 in your work?
We’ve tried to work with all UN instruments including the Beijing Platform, CEDAW, and Resolution 1325. We try to connect them to the laws and policies in our country including the constitution.

The Resolution is good but we still need to make it reach a larger population, especially the women’s groups. We need to also have financial support to do it. Dushirehamwe wants to develop a simpler version of the Kirundi translation of 1325 (available on the PeaceWomen website) to make it easier to read. With the support of UNIFEM, we’ve made small brochures and we’re looking to make many copies and distribute them to people in understandable language.

The most important thing is to know how to use 1325 as an advocacy tool. We have to be mobilized at the national level. We have to design a plan of activities around RS 1325 to make it more useful and understandable. We need to sensitize our political leaders to integrate the resolution as a national plan. We also need help from women’s groups to advocate each article and explain its meaning. We need to integrate RS 1325 into our national and local laws.

PW: How can UN, through institutions like the Integrated Mission in Burundi and the new Peacebuilding Commission support women in Burundi?
Burundians have achieved a lot of things. We’ve achieved peace at a certain level but the UN can play a vital role in pushing our government to implement a broad idea of peace that includes physical security, economic opportunities and the freedom to speak, to move and to act.

We hope the new PBC can help with the development of strong solutions for peace, security, reconciliation, and recovery including the economic empowerment of women, and the promotion of laws that are gender-sensitive.

The PBC should make sure that gender issues are brought into the government’s agenda. Women have done a lot - they should not be excluded at this crucial moment. Women must be seen not only as beneficiaries but also as stakeholders in the process of peace building.

We hope that there will be gender expertise within the national-level PBC processes. Right now the national committee on the PBC is composed only of men. But women are 54 percent of the population and have the credibility and capacities to contribute. All those facts have to be recalled as we call upon the commission to integrate women as stakeholders.

For women, a major priority is security. Reform of the security system should take into account women’s needs. Gender desks in different parts of the security sector should be established. Judicial and protection mechanisms can play a critical role for women who are facing gender-based violence. Sometimes when women go to the police to report sexual violence they are told to prove it but we know that gender based violence is not only physical harm but also a matter of dignity, and yet they are asking you to prove that you’ve been violated! But if there is a woman in the system, at least she may understand what’s happening. We need to make the security system gender sensitive so that women can be free to speak out and have confidence.

Also we have campaigned to have stronger punishments for those who are involved in rape. There have been some legal improvements but we still need something strong, that punishes perpetrators and provides women with physical and psychological care.

Another big challenge is land access and ownership. People who are coming back from refugee camps have found their lands occupied. This issue is a priority because in our country, land is the most important thing people have. We’re also campaigning for laws that give women right to land but the government doesn’t seem to understand. Much more dialogue is needed on this issue to see what is good for both men and women.

The commission should also support legal reform and mechanisms for truth and reconciliation. It’s very important to know what happened during the conflict, who was responsible and how they can be punished. It’s important to end impunity but it is also important to promote forgiveness. We’re already proud of our national policy which calls upon the Burundian people to reconcile.

One thing that can really help to build peace in our country is a poverty reduction fund, which takes into account security, good governance, reconciliation and education. That is the most urgent recommendation I would like to make to the PBC. Poverty is the main cause of conflict in Burundi. In fact right now the country is facing a crisis of food insecurity due to heavy rainfall that has destroyed crops. We need urgent humanitarian help with this - many people are fleeing again to Tanzania and Rwanda.

PW: Can you share any lessons from your Advocacy strategies and their impact?
We have learnt the need to have a very clear goals, to identify challenges, show our achievements and specific things we want to change. In my country I always ask people where exactly they want to go. Instead of just saying we need to have gender mainstreaming, we must look at issues specifically and thematically.

There are many challenges. For example a woman, in my country takes a very long time deciding if she wants to stand in elections. Once she decides to do it, she needs support and encouragement from other women, not criticism. This something I’ve seen among women who don’t give support to those who are going to take the lead. Also, if a woman wants to take a political role, she needs the support of her family and relatives. In African countries, that can be difficult.

I think our work has had some impact. We started as a small project with UNIFEM but later we became a local organization. We are independent, we have laws, and staff. But UNIFEM has been supportive and we’ve gained many partnerships with other NGOs. Many women leaders have benefited from our training program and people have started to affirm that we’re doing something. I recently met a woman parliamentarian who said that “thank you! With your training program, you see where I am now!”

Also when I traveled to different parts of the country, people have said, “you know, after the meeting with the other ethnic group, now I’m able to move, to grow my crops, and we’re helping each other to build houses. I can talk to my neighbors and we do things together.” I’m happy for that; I feel I’m helping. But the support of my family is very important to me- my own husband is very supportive. He takes time to understand my work and calls me when I am traveling to ask how I’m doing. Women do need this type of support to work.

We are also in need of financial support for our programs in conflict transformation, peace building, and women’s political participation.

PW: What are your hopes for Burundi’s future?
Burundi is emerging from a very bad crisis. We have had to start rebuilding everything from the community level. Our hope is that peace will prevail and international and regional actors will support us. One good sign is that the leaders of the Great Lakes region countries have recently signed a pact which may help guarantee peace in the countries of region.

As for the work of the PBC, it will only fulfill Burundians expectations, if it is conducted in a transparent and participatory manner, giving Burundian’s ownership of the peacebuilding process, but ensuring partnership between UN agencies, government bodies and civil society.
Our hope is that because our leaders now are young, they may have fresh ideas. For example, the current president set up free primary education, and a program of medical care for young children and women. These are programs that can improve life if they are really supported.

There is also the civil disarmament issue, which is critical because many civilians are armed and use weapons for violence and robbery. Implementing the policy of disarming civilians is not easy but since the last rebel group agreed to sign a ceasefire, there is hope for that as well.
Its true that Burundi has achieved a lot, but we still have a long way to go. With the international community behind us, I think we can make changes that will ensure a better future.