Burundi Policy Reform Program (Victims of Torture Component)

Implementing Partner: Chemonics International, Inc.

Funding Period: November 2008 – November 2009

Funding Amount: $1,382,056

Purpose: Improve the well-being of torture survivors by providing technical assistance to and building the institutional capacity of the civil society organizations that serve them.

Objectives:

• Provide legal services and healing opportunities to victims of torture.
• Strengthen the managerial skills of civil society organizations so that they can expand the availability of healing and legal services for victims of torture.
• Provide technical assistance to civil society organizations to enable them to advocate for the reform necessary to eradicate the use of torture in Burundi.
• Provide organizational and financial support to survivor-led associations to promote advocacy against torture.

The long-term goals of the Victims of Torture Component of the Burundi Policy Reform Program are to improve the quality and availability of services for people who suffer the direct or indirect effects of violence and trauma and to eradicate torture in Burundi.

The program works to strengthen the capacity of small, local civil society organizations that provide legal, medical, and rehabilitation services for torture victims, those that train service providers, as well as those that conduct educational and advocacy campaigns to raise awareness of the issues surrounding violence and torture. Each organization has its headquarters in Bujumbura, the capitol, with field offices or branches in Burundi’s interior. Since the majority of torture incidences occur in the interior provinces, in the rural communes rather than in cities, the project devotes resources to strengthening and enhancing the institutional capacities of field operations that provide visibility and outreach and serve as a deterrent to human rights abuses in the interior of the country.

The program also supports organizations that advocate for the eradication of torture countrywide. The program provides organizational and financial support to victims-led organizations to conduct public awareness and political sensitization to promote advocacy against torture nationwide.