Resilience perspective for refugees in Burundi

Refugee support under pressure
In 2021 Help a Child Burundi initiated a Humanitarian and Disaster Response to support improving conditions of refugees by providing food and cash aid in partnership with World Food Program (WFP). Three refugee camps in Ngozi, Muyinga and Cankuzo, with over 33,000 refugees, are currently supported by this. However, the new influx of approximately 71,000 Congolese refugees has put pressure on the limited resources. Food portions have been reduced by 50% to accomodate new arrivals. On top of this, the shrinking of funding exacerbated by the suspension of US reinstallation programs has impacted support for refugees.

Resilience perspective for refugees
In response to this, Help a Child is establishing vegetable gardens in all three refugee camps through the project “Food assistance and community recovery for populations vulnerable to malnutrition and food insecurity in Burundi”, with a special focus on improving nutrition for women and children. Additionally, Help a Child is advocating for more space to develop agriculture activities and promoting kitchen gardens within the small plots available. Refugees are also being integrated into national social protection systems to increase their resources, through the project “Productive Social Safety and Employment support”.

With these interventions, Help a Child is aiming to bring a resilience perspective for all refugees in Burundi.