Oxfam-Québec in Burundi

Oxfam-Québec began working in Burundi in 1994, after the crisis, when it became an operating partner of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

After a period of providing aid to Rwandan refugees, Oxfam-Québec’s office was given the task until 2002 of managing the national unaccompanied children (UC) program, providing support to the most vulnerable groups, managing Quick Impact Projects (QIP) (like building schools, rehabilitating roads, and engaging in income-generating activities) and managing repatriation sites. Through these projects, Oxfam-Québec has developed considerable expertise and credibility in the sector over the years.

Numerous visits to even the remotest regions of the country allowed Oxfam-Québec to observe the decrepit state of community infrastructure in several of Burundi’s provinces. Oxfam-Québec helped to rebuild some of this infrastructure.

For Oxfam-Québec, partnership with the local administration and communities remains a fundamental value in maintaining an approach that is convergent, complementary and based on open cooperation and community participation that favours a participatory approach by the population and beneficiaries.

Today, Oxfam-Québec is about to implement a two-year project aimed at supporting the social and economic reintegration of disabled demobilized soldiers.