Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - Saturday, 8 December 2001
John Zarocostas
Major contributors included the World Bank, with about $140 million to $150 million; the European Union, with about $190 million; and the United States, with $150 million; according to senior diplomats who took part in the two-day, UNDP-sponsored donor conference on Burundi.
The president of Burundi, Pierre Buyoya, said at a news conference that the amount of pledged aid could reach as high as $900 million. But several Western diplomats doubted that the final figure would be that high, and some even said there might be adjustments that would put it lower than $764 million.
U.N. officials said a large portion of the funds will go toward a national action plan to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which is estimated to cost $215 million per year. About 11.3 percent of Burundi's 6 million people have this disease.
The deputy UNDP chief for Africa, Jacque Loup, said the amounts pledged were a mixture of grants and loans. Those attending the donor conference represented major Western donor countries and multilateral agencies. The UNDP agency estimates that since 1993 the ethnic conflict in Burundi has claimed more than 250,000 victims and displaced more than 800,000 people, including 350,000 refugees in Tanzania.
Buyoya said he hopes to start cease-fire negotiations with rebels "as quickly as possible before January." He said the talks could take two to three months. Once a cease-fire deal is reached, "the door will be open" for a U.N.-sponsored peacekeeping force, he said.
Diplomats said some of the pledged funds will help cover the operational expenses of the estimated 500-member South African special protection unit stationed in Burundi to protect returning opposition political leaders.
"There's significant interest that this central African country should not be forgotten and to avert the situation becoming catastrophic," an ambassador from an EU member state told United Press International. The conference also agreed to set up a multilateral debt trust fund to help Burundi service its debt of $1.1 billion and enable the government to free up more funds to combat HIV/AIDS.
The UNDP said Burundi's debt service in 2001 will absorb about 98 percent of the country's export revenues, up from 60 percent in 1997.
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