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USAID/OTI Burundi Program Fact Sheet
Vocational Skills Training Component
September 2005
In February 2004, the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) launched the Community-based Peace and Reconciliation Initiative (CPRI) in order to strengthen local capacities to benefit from and contribute to the peace process. PADCO, Inc., the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) and the national NGO African Strategic Impact (ASI) implement CPRI and manage field offices in the provinces of Gitega and Ruyigi. Through CPRI's Community-based Leadership Program (CBLP), vocational skills training (VST), community initiatives and media components, the four organizations encourage local-level cooperation for mutual problem solving, generation of new non-farm income, and the dissemination of timely and balanced information that encourages broad participation in discussions related to the peace process. The four organizations work closely with community groups, government entities, media outlets, NGOs, international organizations and other USAID offices to maximize the positive outcomes of their efforts.
Vocational Skills Training (VST): CPRI supports the following eight VST schools which are tuition-free:
Gitega province
- Bwoga Center, Gitega commune
- Giheta Center, Giheta commune
- Gitongo Center, Mutaho commune
- Ndava Center, Ryansoro commune
Ruyigi province
- Bwagariza Center, Butezi commune
- Muriza Center, Butaganzwa commune
- Kinyinya Center, Kinyinya commune
- Gisuru Center, Gisuru commune
Participants learn masonry, roofing, carpentry, sewing, brick and tile making, and bread making, as well as literacy, numeracy and small business management. They also cover the CBLP curriculum (communication and conflict mitigation skills) and such topics as civic education, land laws and human rights. Graduates receive assistance from VST program staff to help them generate income using their new skills through work for local and international NGOs, government entities, local businesses and private individuals. Over the program's lifetime, 2,700 people will participate in VST courses.
About CPRI's vocational skills training (VST) program:
- VST reaches residents throughout Gitega and Ruyigi-two of the most conflictive provinces with a large concentration of IDPs, ex-combatants and returning refugees.
- VST is run by CPRI, the Ministry of Handicrafts and school committees. The Ministry of Handicrafts approved the VST curricula and certifies the graduates.
- VST provides training to young adults who stayed in their communities, but missed formal school opportunities because of the civil conflict, IDPs, returned refugees, ex-combatants from various military and paramilitary forces, mother heads of household and child heads of household, among other vulnerable groups. The age range of students is 16-29 years.
- VST helps graduates form associations based on needs, rather than along ethnic lines.
- VST graduates can access micro-credit through Burundi's national micro-credit program COOPEC.
- VST has been lauded by the Burundian government for its rapid startup and its various approaches towards mitigating conflict, including: occupying youths who might otherwise be causing trouble; teaching marketable skills to help alleviate the economic causes of conflict; and teaching communication and conflict resolution methods that help students mitigate conflicts in their immediate environments.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C.: Donna Kerner, Senior Program Manager, 202-712-0716, dkerner@usaid.gov
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