{"id":6850,"date":"2017-11-01T14:15:55","date_gmt":"2017-11-01T13:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.studieren-ohne-grenzen.org\/?page_id=6850"},"modified":"2021-11-14T21:01:09","modified_gmt":"2021-11-14T20:01:09","slug":"hintergrund","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/old.studieren-ohne-grenzen.org\/en\/projekte\/burundi\/hintergrund\/","title":{"rendered":"Bur &#8211; 3. Background information"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<h3><span lang=\"de-DE\">Background<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Burundi is a country in East Africa which borders on Ruanda in the north, Tanzania in the west and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the east. The official languages are Kirundi and French. Burundi measures 27.834 km\u00b2 and has approximately 10,5 million citizens. It is therefore one of the smallest but one of the most densely populated (350 citizens per km\u00b2) countries in East Africa.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul class='gdl-toggle-box'>\n<li class=' active'>\n<h2 class='toggle-box-title'><span class='toggle-box-icon'><\/span>History<\/h2>\n<div class='toggle-box-content'>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">The Kingdom of Burundi, which can be traced back to the sixteenth century, was exploited by many different foreign forces in the course of the colonial era. Both the Germans who took possession of the area of Ruandi-Urundi in East Africa from 1899 to 1919 and the Belgians who occupied the country until its independence from Ruandi-Urundi in 1962, worked the authority within the framework of the deputy monarchy. The subdivision and categorisation of the citizens into the ethnic groups of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa was introduced in the course of the bureaucracy through the colonial forces. The ethnic belonging <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">came to be<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> the essential factor <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">concerning <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">the access to education, work and resources. Ruanda and Burundi declared their independence on the same day in 1962, <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">yet through the ethnic seperation the population remains devided.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">After the dependence there were several violent and cruel disputes between Hutu and Tutsi, whereby the Tutsi consolidated their power. After the Hutu attempted a coup in 1972 the Tutsi elite destroyed almost the entire intellectual Hutu elite, <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">thus <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">thousands of people fled to Tanzania. Th<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">roughout there hae been <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">violent disputes but only in 1993 the violence escalated.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Hutu rebel groups such as the FDD and FNL revolted against the Tutsi government after the murder of the first Hutu president Melchior Ndadaye. On the whole, approximately 300.000 people died during the civil war. The conflict was officially reconciled in 2005 after a trial led by the UN and South Africa. However, several rebel groups such as the oldest and biggest Hutu group FNL remained active until 2008 which made the country\u2019s development even more difficult. Burundi\u2019s social structure was nearly completely destroyed by the war. As a result, since 1993 about a sixth of the population has fled to the neighbouring countries.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class='gdl-toggle-box'>\n<li class=' active'>\n<h2 class='toggle-box-title'><span class='toggle-box-icon'><\/span>Current Economic Situation<\/h2>\n<div class='toggle-box-content'>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Burundi has a low state of urban development which is also reflected in its economic structure. <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Hence<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">, the primary sector dominates the count<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">r<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">y\u2019s trade profile. <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Due to the <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">growing population, nutrient-poor land and the <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">subsitenzce-<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">economy, the productivity of the agricultural sector however equals zero.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Burundi\u2019s little economic development <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">becomes especially apparent by<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> different development indicators. The UNPD lists Burundi in the Human Development Index on position 180 out of 187 countries and in the World Hunger Index the nutrition situation in Burundi is classified as \u201egrave\u201c, <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">t<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">herefore <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Burundi holds<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> the last position, together with Iraq and Eritrea. Thus the nutrition situation remains critical a<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">s does the infrastructure remain in a<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> wretched condition, <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">around <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">70% of the population live below the national poverty line.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">During the civil war between 1993 and 2005 a lot of knowledge was lost and today 65% of the population is younger than 24 years, which <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">puts pressure on<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> the country\u2019s education system. However, Burundi\u2019s economy remains weak due to the poor access to education and <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> working opportunities<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">. <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Which<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> is a direct result of the war.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p lang=\"en-GB\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><\/p>\n<ul class='gdl-toggle-box'><\/span><\/p>\n<li class=' active'>\n<h2 class='toggle-box-title'><span class='toggle-box-icon'><\/span>Current Political Situation<\/h2>\n<div class='toggle-box-content'>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">In the last few months there has been a lot of news about President Pierre Nkurunziza\u2018s controversial third candidacy, which led to a massive protest wave in Burundi. The protests ran violent<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">ly<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> and more than one hundred civilians became victims of the police. After a failed coup Nkurunziza was reelected for the third time in 2015. The approval for the governing party CNDD-FDD remains high, especially in the rural regions of the country which is to be judged critically due to violation by the Burundian secret service and violent intimidation by the Imbonerakure (the party\u2019s youth militia). Ten years after the end of the civil war the conditions have only improved step by step. The Burundian government led their country increasingly authoritarian after the Arusha Accords. Many of the donor countries such as Germany stopped their development aid due to the protests and the authorities\u2018 reaction. The stabilisation of the civilian population is of great importance with regard to the political situation to ensure the citizens of Burundi keep participating in their country\u2018s further development. <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Which is exactly <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">the approach SOG and its scholarship are taking.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">The riots in Burundi haven\u2019t stopped since 2015, the beginning of Nkurunziza\u2019s third ministry. <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">T<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">here are demonstrations and viol<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">ent riots<\/span><\/span> <span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">happening <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">over and over again. Since the beginning of the demonstrations, 300.000 people have left the country, more than 500 died, even 90 in only one day in December 2016. Shortly after <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">that<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> the minister <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">of the environment<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> Emmanuel Niyonkuru was shot. In July seven opposition parties were suspended because as per the Interior Minister they didn\u2019t act properly <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">and haden\u2019t given the government a <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">total list of their members as well as a list of those in leading positions.<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> The leader of the CDPs (Conseil des Patriotes) responded to the<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">se<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> events that, even when they <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">had been<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> an \u201eofficial\u201c party, the leading parties couldn\u2019t meet with their members, that members were harassed and sometimes even killed. These are characteristics <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">of<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> a dictatorial one-party state with no public space for an opposition. Another characteristic is President Nkurunziza\u2019s fight against critical voices and the media, which is best shown in an example: July 22th was the commemoration day for Jean Bigirimana who used to criticise the Head of State and who <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">had been missing for one year to that day<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">. <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">His death cannot be<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> declare<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">d<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> because there is no proof, <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">however t<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">he circumstances of his disappearance are very mysterious. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p lang=\"en-GB\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<\/ul>\n<p lang=\"en-GB\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><\/p>\n<ul class='gdl-toggle-box'><\/span><\/p>\n<li class=' active'>\n<h2 class='toggle-box-title'><span class='toggle-box-icon'><\/span>Condition of the Education System<\/h2>\n<div class='toggle-box-content'>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Particularly Burundi\u2018s education system is still debilitated by the outcome of the civil war. Schools in rural regions suffer from unfair distribution of funds and accoutrements. The curriculum usually communicates \u201ewestern\u201c and christian values. Additionally, the classes are often too crowded, especially in higher education and are <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">often <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">interrupted by social riots. Since 2005, primary education is free what allows many children to go to school but only 10% of the children take advantage of a higher education afterwards. Today there are at least a few \u201eCommunity Colleges\u201c that are built and maintained by local communities, that offer a higher education which 48% of the students finish with a degree. Thus, in the long term it means <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">wealthier<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> communities, which are often <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">located<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> in the city, are in a more privileged position <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">concerning<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> the education system. This is why the average duration of a higher education only takes 2,5 years.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p lang=\"en-GB\">\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Higher education<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">The higher education system is quite one-sided. Only about 1% of the 18-22 year olds go to a university. All in all, there are four public and eight private universities and departments with different study offers, most of them are located in the capital Bujumbura.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">The Bologna reform in Europe also <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">has been <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">an example for the Burundian education system. <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Therefore<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> all of the universities offer B.A. and M.A. courses of studies since the change in 2011\/2012. <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">The change caused difficulties in european institutions, likewise in Burundi. <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">The separation of the academic year in terms is still problematic and not completely implemented. Additionally, there is an evaluation mechanism within the university structures missing whereby quality assurance is neglected. There\u2019s hardly research done <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">in university, nor is it. C<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">ooperations with other countries <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">lack as well<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">. <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">In general c<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">orruption is a constant problem in Burundi <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">thus too<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"> in the higher education system which makes a professionalization essential.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p lang=\"en-GB\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, serif\"><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Background Burundi is a country in East Africa which borders on Ruanda in the north, Tanzania in the west and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the east. The official languages are Kirundi and French. Burundi measures 27.834 km\u00b2 and has approximately 10,5 million citizens. It is therefore one of the smallest but one of the most densely populated (350 citizens per km\u00b2) countries in East Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"parent":4627,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.studieren-ohne-grenzen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.studieren-ohne-grenzen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.studieren-ohne-grenzen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.studieren-ohne-grenzen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.studieren-ohne-grenzen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6850"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/old.studieren-ohne-grenzen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9875,"href":"https:\/\/old.studieren-ohne-grenzen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6850\/revisions\/9875"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.studieren-ohne-grenzen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.studieren-ohne-grenzen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}